managing editor: nigel morganrhula.net/v1.0/files/news/mozambique weekly 20 november to 27 … ·...
TRANSCRIPT
Video footage depicting the abduction of Hariche Arquissandas goes viral (see page 59 for more).
Rhula Intelligent Solutions is a Private Risk Management Company servicing
multinational companies, non-governmental organisations and private clients operating
in Mozambique. The Rhula Mozambique Weekly Report is currently being distributed
to over 25 embassies, 36 non-governmental organisations and 428 businesses and
individuals in Mozambique. For additional information or services please contact:
Joe van der Walt Operations Director
Mobile (SA): +27 79 516 8710 Mobile (Moz): +258 826 780 038
Email: [email protected]
WEEKLY MEDIA REVIEW: 20 NOVEMBER TO 27 NOVEMBER 2015
www.rhula.net
Managing Editor: Nigel Morgan
David Barske Operations Specialist
Mobile (SA): +27 76 691 8934 Mobile (Moz): +258 84 689 5140
Email: [email protected]
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this report is intended to provide general information on a particular subject or subjects. While all reasonable steps are taken to
ensure the accuracy and the integrity of information and date transmitted electronically and to preserve the confidentiality thereof, no liability or responsibility
whatsoever is accepted by us should information or date for whatever reason or cause be corrupted or fail to reach its intended destination. It is not an
exhaustive document on such subject(s), nor does it create a business or professional services relationship. The information contained herein is not intended
to constitute professional advice or services. The material discussed is meant to provide general information, and should not be acted on without obtaining
professional advice appropriately tailored to your individual needs. Your use of this document and the information it contains is at your own risk
OBJECTIVE
Offering seamless solutions for asset protection
in SADC political and security environment.
VISION Providing a network of political and security risk
advisers with first-hand knowledge of
Mozambique and each country in the SADC.
SCOPE OF SERVICES Country Risk Management
Country Risk Assessment
Market Entry
Due Diligence
Research & Investigations
Cultural Nuances and Understanding
Health, Safety & Environmental
Management
Physical Site Assessment
Compliance
Sanctions (US, EU, UK, Asia)
Anti-Money Laundering (AML)
Anti-Bribery / Corruption (FCPA, BBA,
OECD)
Litigation Support
Know your Client / Source of Funds (KyC /
SoF)
Specialised Security Services
Corporate Security Planning
Crisis Management
Emergency Evacuation
Executive Protection
Kidnap and Ransom
AREAS OF OPERATION SADC
KEY PERSONS Dr. Leonardo Simão - Executive Chairman
Executive director of the Joaquim Chissano
Foundation, Chairman of United Bank of Africa
and Member of the SADC Mediation Team for
Madagascar, Leonardo Simão served as Minister
of Health from 1988 to 1994 and Minister of
Foreign Cooperation from 1994 to 2005.
Graduated in Medicine, Specialist in Public
Health, he is a founding member of the Medical
Association of Mozambique and member of the
Mozambique Medical Council.
Nuno Tomas - Director
A career diplomat, Nuno Tomas is Senior
Adviser to former President of Mozambique,
Joaquim Chissano since 2005. He has been
involved in special political missions across
Africa focussed on Conflict Resolution,
Sustainable Development, Accountability and
Good Governance.
Nigel Morgan - Director
For more than two decades, Nigel Morgan has
advised multinational companies, financial
institutions and private clients on political and
security risk related to foreign direct investment
in Africa. He served in the Irish Guards and at
the Centre for Policy Studies in London during
the premiership of Margaret Thatcher.
Joe van der Walt - Director
Former South African military officer, who has
specialised in private-sector security in Africa
and the Middle East, with particular expertise in
the oil, gas and mining sectors and working
experience in Angola, DRC, Liberia, Zambia,
Somalia, Iraq, to name a few.
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ECONOMY & BUSINESS ............................................................................................... 8
GRAPH 1: MOZAMBIQUE CURRENCY EVALUATION ........................................... 8
Mozambique’s currency hits record low ....................................................................... 9
Devaluation of the metical is due to economic factors – central bank ........................ 10
“Currency depreciation should not cause despair” – Prime Minister .......................... 11
Foreign debt remains sustainable at US$7 billion – Minister Maleiane ...................... 12
Price rises could create social tensions in Mozambique ............................................ 14
Water price hike blamed on the depreciation of the metical ....................................... 15
Big African debt burdens are back again: Mozambique is not alone .......................... 15
German business mission interested in establishing partnerships with Mozambique 18
EU announces new support for Mozambique ............................................................ 18
‘Namaskar Africa 2015’ – India-Southern Africa business forum opens in Maputo .... 19
India is helping Mozambique meet its energy needs – in good ways and bad ........... 20
March 2016 FID unlikely for Mozambique LNG ......................................................... 22
Government allows cost recovery for OVL’s export-oriented gas asset ..................... 24
Sasol to conserve cash as oil price falls ..................................................................... 25
Mozambique must negotiate energy resources better – economists ......................... 26
Anadarko’s new vice president inspects his domain .................................................. 27
Geogas puts down roots on LPG markets ................................................................. 27
Karamehmet, a Turkish mogul who wants his piece of Mozambique’s gas ............... 28
Triton extends graphite find to east of Mozambique .................................................. 28
Triton Minerals sets out entitlement offer details ........................................................ 29
Mustang raises funds to fast track its ruby projects ................................................... 30
Operations resume at Metals of Africa site ................................................................ 31
Three die in mine collapse in Zambézia ..................................................................... 31
Cahora Bassa not the cause of cheap power in South Africa .................................... 32
Mozambique needs to invest US$500 million per year in electricity ........................... 33
Road works delayed due to failure to pay contractors ............................................... 33
4
Public-private partnership brings in 200 more buses for Maputo and 126 new railway
carriages for CFM ...................................................................................................... 34
Mozambique invites bids for next phase of Northern Export Harbour ........................ 35
Nacala airport opens to international flights in 2016 .................................................. 35
Beira Airport scheduled for passenger terminal makeover......................................... 36
Post Office signs deal with largest bank ..................................................................... 36
Transport Ministry organises investment conference for the Beira and Zambézia
development corridors ................................................................................................ 37
Country creates more than 200,000 jobs ................................................................... 37
New UNCTAD report backs commercial smallholder farms ....................................... 38
Mozambique remains among world’s least prosperous countries .............................. 39
POLITICS ...................................................................................................................... 42
President Nyusi calls for unity among Former Liberation Movements ....................... 42
Major changes in Niassa district administrators ......................................................... 43
Renamo deputy insults President Nyusi ..................................................................... 44
Government analysing 19 requests to transfer services to municipalities .................. 45
President Nyusi attends Commonwealth Summit in Malta ......................................... 45
SECURITY .................................................................................................................... 46
President Nyusi calls for restraint in disarming Renamo ............................................ 46
Illegal weapons “pose no threat to overall stability of Mozambique” – Minister Monteiro
................................................................................................................................... 47
Prime Minister urges Renamo to disarm voluntarily ................................................... 47
Renamo accuses the government of imitating the “Angolan solution” ....................... 48
It is difficult to give balanced account of the disarmament process – police .............. 49
Mozambique’s conflict will not be solved by the collection of weapons – Catholic
Church ....................................................................................................................... 49
The existence of armed groups in Mozambique is unacceptable – AU Ambassador . 50
More than 600 students miss exams in Zumbo due to “political instability” ................ 50
Mozambican refugees face uncertain future in Malawi .............................................. 51
5
President Nyusi urges media to reproduce “culture of non-violence” ......................... 52
Mozambican media threatened by more than just political interference ..................... 53
Mobile operators threaten to cut off unregistered phone users .................................. 54
Government to spend US$1.9 million on new Guro court .......................................... 56
CRIME ........................................................................................................................... 56
MAP 1: KIDNAPPING INCIDENTS IN CENTRAL MAPUTO 2014 & 2015 ............. 56
GRAPH 2: REPORTED KIDNAPPINGS PER YEAR ............................................. 57
GRAPH 3: TIME OF KIDNAPPINGS 2014 & 2015 ................................................. 57
GRAPH 4: KIDNAPPINGS PER GENDER / AGE-GROUP 2014 & 2015 ............... 58
54 illegal immigrants repatriated ................................................................................ 58
Criminals rob Civil Identification Directorate ............................................................... 58
Kidnapping: 24 November .......................................................................................... 59
Prominent businessman under investigation .............................................................. 60
Major corruption uncovered in army command .......................................................... 61
For suspects in the murder of Bo Hu released on bail ............................................... 62
62-year-old man arrested for raping two sisters in Maputo ........................................ 63
Government approves albino protection plan ............................................................. 64
WILDLIFE & ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ......................................................... 65
SADC, east Africa and Mozambique fight illegal timber trade .................................... 65
Government announces total and immediate ban on timber exports ......................... 68
Minister Edna Molewa is confident that the war on rhino poaching will be won ......... 69
OTHER .......................................................................................................................... 71
3,000 families in Chigubo survive on one meal per day ............................................. 71
FAO expects to triple agricultural production in 11 districts ........................................ 71
Cholera lethality rate remains very low ...................................................................... 72
President Nyusi visits Manhica health centre ............................................................. 73
New vaccine against polio introduced ........................................................................ 73
Two killed in Maputo mosque collapse....................................................................... 75
6
FIFA suspends support for Mozambican football ....................................................... 75
BUSINESS INDEX
ADM .................................................................................................................................... 35, 36
Aeroportos de Moçambique, ADM ............................................................................................35
Anadarko .......................................................................................................... 22, 23, 24, 26, 27
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. ........................................................................................................22
Artes Energy .............................................................................................................................28
BG Group ..................................................................................................................................27
Biworld International Limited .....................................................................................................62
BP .............................................................................................................................................28
Capital Economics ....................................................................................................................16
CFM .................................................................................................................................... 34, 35
Çukurova Holding .....................................................................................................................28
EdM ..........................................................................................................................................26
Electricidade de Moçambique, EdM ..........................................................................................26
Ematum ........................................................................................................ 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 23
Empreesa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos ENH...........................................................................22
Empresa Mocambicana de Atum SA (Ematum) ......................................................................... 9
ENH .............................................................................................................................. 22, 23, 26
ENHILS .....................................................................................................................................23
Eurasia Group ...........................................................................................................................10
Exim bank .................................................................................................................................23
ExxonMobil ...............................................................................................................................24
Fitch Ratings ................................................................................................................... 9, 16, 17
Geden Line ...............................................................................................................................28
Genel Energy ............................................................................................................................28
Geogas Entreprise ....................................................................................................................27
GMP Securities Australia ..........................................................................................................29
ICVL ..........................................................................................................................................21
International Coal Ventures Private Limited, ICVL .....................................................................21
Jindal ........................................................................................................................................21
Kentz ........................................................................................................................................24
Kuikila Investments ...................................................................................................................27
Landesbank Berlin Investment GmbH ........................................................................................ 9
Lanstead Capital .......................................................................................................................30
m-Cel ........................................................................................................................................54
Metals of Africa .........................................................................................................................31
Mitsui ........................................................................................................................................22
7
Moody’s Investors Service ......................................................................................................... 9
Mov Energy SA .........................................................................................................................27
Movitel ......................................................................................................................................54
Mozgas Energy .........................................................................................................................28
Mustang Resources ..................................................................................................................30
Muyake .....................................................................................................................................23
New Speed ...............................................................................................................................63
NKC Independent Economists ..................................................................................................10
Odebrecht .................................................................................................................................35
Oil India Ltd ...............................................................................................................................24
ONGC Videsh Ltd .....................................................................................................................24
Opec .........................................................................................................................................25
Orlean Invest ............................................................................................................................23
Pacific Wildcat Resources Corporation .....................................................................................31
PetroSA ....................................................................................................................................25
Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Mozambique, CFM..................................................................34
Prime Gas .................................................................................................................................27
Rio Tinto ...................................................................................................................................21
Sasol ................................................................................................................................... 25, 26
Sequ Financials ........................................................................................................................28
Shell ..........................................................................................................................................27
Sir Motors .................................................................................................................................34
SNC Lavalin ..............................................................................................................................24
Standard & Poor’s ...................................................................................................................... 9
Standard Life Investments ........................................................................................................17
Tantalum Mineracao e Prospeccao Limitada ............................................................................31
Total ..........................................................................................................................................27
Tradex ......................................................................................................................................27
Triton Minerals .................................................................................................................... 28, 29
Turkcell .....................................................................................................................................28
Vale ..........................................................................................................................................21
Vallares .....................................................................................................................................28
Videocon ...................................................................................................................................24
Vodacom ...................................................................................................................................54
Yichang Xincheng Graphite Co. Ltd ..........................................................................................30
Yutong ......................................................................................................................................34
Zen Navigation ..........................................................................................................................28
8
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Mozambique Exchange Rate and Fuel Prices: 25 November 2015
GRAPH 1: MOZAMBIQUE CURRENCY EVALUATION
Mozambique Fuel Prices
Fuel Type Price Per Litre
Petrol 47,52MT
Diesel 36,81MT
Prices only valid for Maputo, Beira and Nacala
Mozambique Metical (MZN) Exchange Rate
Currency Buy Sell
Euro (EUR) 55,89 56,10
U.S. Dollar (USD) 52,55 52,75
S.A. Rand (ZAR) 3,75 3,76
Mozambique’s currency hits record low
A government-appointed bank in Mozambique has commenced negotiations aimed at reorganising the US$850 million of debt issued by a state-owned fishing company, sending the bonds into a tailspin and the nation’s currency to a record low.
On Monday 23 November, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Rogerio Nkomo, commented that: “If we manage to extend the debt, the longer we can extend it, the better. If we can lower the interest rate, it’s better. We have to negotiate first”.
Banco Nacional de Investimento (BNI) has begun discussions with investors to lengthen the maturity and reduce interest charges on the notes, issued two years ago at a semi-annual coupon of 6.305%, he said.
The Minister of Economy and Finance, Adriano Maleiane, said in June that the southern African nation wants to extend the repayment period and negotiate lower interest rates on the debt.
Empresa Mocambicana de Atum SA (Ematum) tapped the international capital markets in 2013 to finance a fleet of fishing boats. The funds were also used to pay for patrol vessels, leading the government to take US$500 million onto its own balance sheet as defence spending.
Yields on the securities due September 2020 rose by five basis points to 10.01%, after climbing 10 basis points on Monday. The rate has jumped 304 basis points this year alone.
The metical dropped as much as 21% to an all-time low of MT57.50 to the US dollar, before paring losses to trade 16% down at MT53.80. It has depreciated by 39% this year, the biggest decline among 24 African currencies tracked by Bloomberg after Zambia’s kwacha.
“We do not see a single reason for a Mozambique bond restructuring”, Lutz Roehmeyer, who oversees about €1 billion (US$1.1 billion) in emerging-market debt, including the so-called tuna bonds, as director of fund management at Landesbank Berlin Investment GmbH, said in an e-mailed response to questions. He bought the debt in August, believing a restructuring was unlikely, with the yields too attractive to skip.
“They should honour their commitments”, Roehmeyer said. “Debt levels of the country are not too unsustainably high to justify any need for debt renegotiation”.
Credit downgrades
Standard & Poor’s, which in July downgraded the country’s debt one notch to ‘B-‘, and has Mozambique on a negative outlook, has said that any changes to Ematum’s securities would amount to a default. Fitch Ratings predicts that the country’s debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio will soar to a decade-high of 62% by the end of this year (2015), from 38% in 2011. In August, Moody’s Investors Service cut Mozambique’s rating to ‘B2’ from ‘B1’, citing its deteriorating fiscal and debt metrics.
“A downgrade is more likely over the short-to-medium term following the developments pertaining to the Ematum situation”, Hanns Spangenberg, a fixed-income analyst at NKC Independent
10
Economists in Paarl (South Africa), said in an e-mailed note. “Additional factors that could warrant a ratings downgrade include a sustained faltering of economic growth, ill-advised fiscal expenditures beyond the advice of international agencies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, or further sharp depreciation of the metical”.
The administration of President Filipe Nyusi is struggling to cope with lower prices for commodities, such as coal and gas, which is weighing on economic growth, while the weakening currency is adding to the costs of servicing the debt. The President also needs to end renewed hostilities between security forces and heavily armed opposition party militants, which have claimed scores of lives over the past six months.
“Ultimately this government remains unlikely to renege on its guarantee or miss a coupon payment”, Mark Rosenberg, an Africa director at Eurasia Group, said in an e-mailed response to questions. “But the combination of low capacity and difficult ruling party politics will continue to undermine the government’s communication with the market and the pace of any reorganisation”.
The government, which planned for the payments in its budget, can accept or reject BNI’s recommendations for changing the terms of the debt, said Nkomo. Abdul Jivane, an executive board member of the Maputo-based lender, said that BNI is talking to investors because it cannot make any changes to the debt terms without them. It may not be done with its recommendations by the end of this month as initially planned, he said.
“It’s not an easy transaction, it’s a very complex deal”, he said. “We are working on the process, it’s an ongoing project”.
Source: Moneyweb/Bloomberg
Devaluation of the metical is due to economic factors – central bank
On Friday 20 November, the Governor of the Bank of Mozambique, Ernesto Gove, said that the sharp devaluation of the metical against the US dollar is the result of cyclical factors and not of the high value of loans contracted for the implementation of some public works.
Gove, who was speaking during a National Conference on Public Debt, focused on factors of an external and internal nature and denied that works such as the construction of the Maputo Ring Road and the Maputo/Catembe Bridge, and the establishment of Ematum, were the reasons behind the sharp devaluation of the national currency.
The governor noted that the dollar had been rising in value globally, reaching worrying levels not only against the metical but also against the Russian ruble, the Brazilian real and some currencies in southern Africa.
The issue of debt taken on for large construction projects was also addressed by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Adriano Maleiane. According to the minister, the loans granted for the construction of the Maputo Ring Road, the Maputo/Catembe Bridge and even for the establishment of Ematum were an option that the government considered convenient.
Minister Maleiane said that the Maputo/Catembe Bridge would make it
11
possible to link the road between the north and south of the country, and would also provide an uninterrupted route from Durban (South Africa) to Cairo (Egypt).
Source: Macauhub
“Currency depreciation should not cause despair” – Prime Minister
Although a matter of concern, the recent depreciation of the metical “should not plunge us into pessimism leading to panic and despair”, urged Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário.
He was speaking on Wednesday 25 November, in the country’s Parliament [the Assembly of the Republic], in response to a question put forward by Renamo, concerning the devaluation of the currency.
Prime Minister Rosário blamed the current problems on the strengthening of the US dollar, which reflects the recovery of the American economy from the effects of the world financial crisis of 2008.
Up until the end of October this year, the metical had lost 43% of its value against the dollar. Prime Minister Rosário pointed out that many other currencies had also suffered – the Zambian kwacha had suffered a depreciation of 100%, the Angolan Kwanza depreciated by 36%, the Tanzanian shilling had depreciated by 27%, and the South African rand was down by 25%.
Currencies outside of Africa were also on the decline. The Brazilian real has lost 56% of its value, while the Russian ruble has depreciated by 50% against the dollar, and the Euro by 14%.
Prime Minister Rosário noted that the devaluation of the metical has continued
into November “which worries all of us, because of its impact on increasing the costs of the factors of domestic production, since the country imports more than it produces”.
To make matters worse, the strengthening of the dollar has coincided with a fall in commodity process, including the prices of some of Mozambique’s key exports. Prime Minister Rosário said that the international prices of aluminium and natural gas have both fallen by 20%, and the price of coal by 22%.
The Prime Minister said the latest statistics showed that, in the first nine months of this year, Mozambican exports fell by 9% in terms of value when compared with the same period in 2014. The value of imports had only fallen by 3%.
“This means that we are consuming more than we produce, which contributes to the depreciation of the metical”, he added.
He stressed that stabilising the metical and improving living conditions would only be possible “with the consolidation of peace, increases in production and productivity, and the attraction of investments aimed specifically at the development of human capital, infrastructures and the production of goods and services, with a view to gradual import substitution”.
Despite the weakening of the metical, Prime Minister Rosário believes that “the economic fundamentals of the country remain satisfactory”.
Although the pace of economic growth had slowed somewhat, figures for the first half of the year show an annual GDP growth rate of 6.3%, which is higher than
12
the average for sub-Saharan Africa of about 5%.
The Prime Minister believes that inflation is still under control. According to the National Statistics Institute, based on the consumer price indices for the three largest cities (Maputo, Nampula and Beira), inflation from January to October was 3.63%. The government’s inflation target for the entire year is 5.6%.
“Up until last month, the inflation registered is within the targets of macro-economic convergence established for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region”, he said.
Mozambique’s net foreign reserves are enough to cover imports of goods and non-factor services for 3.7 months. “From the undertakings with our international co-operation partners, we expect these reserves to grow by the end of the year”, he added. “Thus the import of both consumer goods and of intermediate goods necessary to guarantee the normal productive cycle of the economy is guaranteed”.
Despite the depreciation of the metical, “the government pledges that it will do everything to ensure the availability and accessibility of essential consumer goods during the festive season”, Prime Minister Rosário said.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
Foreign debt remains sustainable at US$7 billion – Minister Maleiane
According to the Minister of Economy and Finance, Adriano Maleiane, Mozambique’s foreign debt is still at sustainable levels.
Speaking on Friday 20 November, at the Conference on Public Debt, organised by the Mozambican Debt Group (GMD), Minister Maleiane said that the government had kept the key ratio between the net present value of the debt and GDP to below the ceiling of 40%.
In 2014, that ratio reached 37%. But in 2015 “thanks to the work we have been doing, there was practically no increase in indebtedness, but GDP this year is greater than it was last year”.
Hence the debt to GDP ratio had declined – Minister Maleiane put it at 31.9%. But he admitted that to reach this figure, he had eliminated the effect of changes in the exchange rate (which have been substantial over the past few months due to the sharp devaluation of the metical against the US dollar).
Minister Maleiane said that there had been a steep increase in debt between 2012 and 2014. The foreign public debt grew by 55.3%, from US$4.8 billion to US$7 billion. US$1.5 billion of this debt derives from just three loans – one of these three loans (for coastal protection) amounts to US$500 million, which is part of the US$850 million borrowed by Ematum on the Eurobond market in September 2013.
The other US$1 billion derives from the Chinese loans for the construction of the Maputo Ring Road, and the bridge over Maputo Bay from the centre of the city to the district of Katembe. Leaving aside these three loans, the foreign debt would be US$5.9 billion, an increase of only 14.5%, said Minister Maleiane.
Over the same period, the foreign debt of the Mozambican private sector rose from US$4.5 billion to US$4.7 billion.
13
If domestic debt is included, then the public debt rises to US$8 billion. This is overshadowed by the total private debt which is US$9.1 billion.
Minister Maleiane warned that Mozambicans should be worried by the private debt, and not just by the public debt. “The public debt is paid by each and every one of us”, he said. “But if the private sector does not honour its commitments to foreign creditors, the country will be classified as one that fails to pay its debts, and it doesn’t matter whether those debts are from the private or the public sector”.
Taking a broader view, Minister Maleiane argued that indebtedness is inevitable, if the country wishes to develop. There was a legitimate debate on whether the government had made the right choice in guaranteeing the Ematum loan, or taking Chinese loans for the ring road and the Maputo-Katembe Bridge. But what was not in doubt “is the fact that in order to grow, we must invest, and to invest we must have savings”.
The good news, Minister Maleiane said, is that nowadays Mozambique does not rely on foreign aid to pay the State’s wage bills and running costs. There is also a further MT40 billion (approximately US$870 million, at current exchange rates) in the State Budget for investment.
But this is not enough, and so Mozambique will have to find the money from somewhere else. He says that he fears that donors will soon balk at giving grants to Mozambique, precisely because the country is growing, and its per capita GDP has risen from around US$190 in 1980 to roughly US$700 today.
The minister stressed that, because Mozambique is a growing country, it may no longer be eligible for grants in the near future. “We have to understand that the country can’t just live on grants, even if we wanted to. The world looks at us and says ‘you’re liberated, and you should look for alternative funding’. That’s what we’re doing”, he said.
As for the recent loan negotiated with the IMF, following a 10-year period during which the country was free of IMF debts, Minister Maleiane said that Mozambique was not asking for any favours and, like any other IMF member, was entitled to money from the IMF’s Stand-by Credit Facility.
“The IMF’s job is to help countries in achieving and maintaining a competitive foreign trade policy”, he stressed. “And when there is a shock, as is happening now with the exchange rate, it has the obligation to support its members. Based on the capital we have in the organisation we will receive US$286 million”.
On the other hand, the GMD argued that the country’s current level of public debt is cause for concern, and cast doubt on the relevance of some loans.
“Living in a tighter environment in terms of public debt, we have noticed some dynamics which give cause for concern”, said GMD economist, Humberto Zaqueu.
Stressing that debt itself is not bad, Zaqueu pointed out that government debt has accelerated to fund consumer spending and expenditure with questionable returns.
The economist highlighted the government’s US$850 million Ematum debt, the low rate of return from the
14
District Development Fund (FDD) and state funding of loss-making public companies as operations most detrimental to the State.
“The most glaring case is Ematum. If the company does not start generating revenue, all Mozambicans’ taxes will go to paying its debts”, said Zaqueu.
The economist also noted that the costs of the defence sector and the presidency have grown at a faster rate than budgetary allocations for health, education and agriculture.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique/Lusa
Price rises could create social tensions in Mozambique
On Friday 20 November, the former prime minister and chairman of Millennium BIM, Mário da Graça Machungo, said that the nationwide price rises could create social tensions in the country, and advocated for greater collaboration between the banking sector and the Bank of Mozambique “to stabilise the currency”.
Speaking to reporters in Oporto on the side-lines of the Portugal-Africa Foundation’s conference entitled: “Africa, Ways of the Future”, Machungo said that he found the price increases worrying, as the situation “could create social tension”.
“The metical worries me. It has devalued tremendously recently and this is worrying for all of Mozambique”, he said.
According to Machungo, Millennium BIM could help offset the external shock that the economy is suffering by “adopting monetary policies advocated by the Bank of Mozambique”.
The bank must “co-operate with the central bank to stabilise the currency”, he said.
Machungo also said that the bank “has to be prepared to implement the envisaged measures” to reduce credit acceleration, relieving imports and pressure on the metical. However, he argued that: “demand cannot be stopped abruptly”.
“The economy generally, and businesses in particular, need credit to sustain employment and work. The bank should not be pressured to do it in one day; it must be allowed time to do it”, he said.
Asked whether he agreed with the austerity measures suggested by the IMF, and already implemented by the government, Machungo admitted that he “has little knowledge” of the IMF proposals, but said that he accepts measures aimed at “solving problems of misapplication and misuse of funds which do not promote development”.
The IMF previously said that adjustments and structural reforms to control threats facing the economy of Mozambique were inevitable, while still believing that the situation is temporary.
“There is need for adjustments to stabilise the macroeconomic situation”, IMF representative in Mozambique, Alex Segura, said during the presentation in Maputo of an IMF report on the economic outlook for sub-Saharan Africa, entitled “Dealing With Dark Clouds”.
According to Segura, the “external shock” facing the region, caused by the slowdown in emerging economies; the normalisation of US monetary policy; changes in China’s development mode; and the drop of the price of raw materials,
15
will require tax adjustments and a credit slowdown in Mozambique, which has “experienced excessive expansion mainly financing consumption and low employment sectors”.
To contain the impact of the external shock, the IMF encourages Mozambique to adopt a policy of moderate inflation, debt sustainability and stabilised metical depreciation levels.
In the meantime, the prices of essential products (specifically fresh foodstuffs) have been rising recently in central Maputo markets. According to reporters, stall holders offset the hikes with higher wholesale prices at Zimpeto, Malanga and Fajardo markets.
For example, in Mercado Central (Central Market) a 10 kilogram bag of imported potatoes currently costs MT200 against the pervious weeks’ price of MT180. According to sellers, the price could increase to MT220 in the coming days if the wholesale trend continues.
In the space of one week, the price of a 10 kilogram bag of onions rose from MT170 to MT180. Eggs imported from South Africa rose to MT65 a dozen from MT60 previously.
In Mercado do Povo, in the centre of Maputo, a kilogram of potatoes costs MT35 – a slight increase on last week’s MT30. Butterbeans have gone up from MT60 to MT80 a kilogram.
In the same market, the price of maize meal has risen by MT2 per kilogram to MT30, while a kilogram of imported flour from South Africa has risen to MT35. The Mandela Market is experiencing a similar scenario. Source: Folha de Maputo
Water price hike blamed on the depreciation of the metical
As of 1 December, consumers on the outskirts of Maputo will pay more for water. A cubic metre of water (1,000 litres) will increase from MT30 to MT40 in areas covered by the electricity network, and from MT40 to MT50 in areas without electricity.
The decision was taken at an extraordinary general meeting of the Mozambican Association of Private Water Suppliers (Aforamo) on 21 November. The association justified their decision by citing the depreciation of the metical.
The Aforamo statement reads: “The progressive depreciation of our currency, the metical, and consequent general increase in prices of almost all equipment and third-party services required for the normal functioning of water supply systems have led us to this price adjustment”.
Water supplied throughout Mozambique by the Water Supply Investments and Assets Fund (FIPAG) also saw a price hike in October this year from MT20 to MT22 per cubic metre.
Source: O País
Big African debt burdens are back again: Mozambique is not alone
Influential role-players helped convince the international community to write off more than US$100 billion of African government borrowings a decade ago. Now the big debts are back, and it’s getting tougher for countries to pay them off.
Mozambique was one of the biggest beneficiaries of debt forgiveness, with its
16
debt slashed from 86% of GDP in 2005 to 9% the following year. The country has built it back up since then to 61% of GDP.
Ghana’s debt was 82% of GDP in 2005 just before the international community forgave about half of it. It’s now up to 73% of GDP and growing, according to the IMF. In 2003 terms, its debt stood at US$7.5 billion. The debt level, in today’s terms, is now nearly US$25 billion.
It’s a postscript to the apparent success story that began after a high-profile debt initiative helped 35 countries escape crippling obligations to international lenders. Coupled with the commodities boom, the debt relief helped set off a wave of investment and growth that saw several African economies develop, reduce poverty and integrate with the global economy more than ever before.
But now debt loads are growing again in some countries, thanks to a borrowing spree in the capital markets that has collided with a collapse in local currencies and commodity prices. In Ghana, for example, the cost of servicing debt will consume nearly 40% of government revenue this year, according to an analysis by Fitch Ratings — twice what is considered sustainable under the rule of thumb used by the IMF and many analysts.
“In some cases, such as Ghana, the increase has been quite alarming”, says John Ashbourne, Africa economist at London-based Capital Economics.
“This certainly isn’t the future that the international institutions had in mind when they launched the debt-relief effort”.
Few investors are bolting. But they are demanding higher returns for lending to
many of these nations, and keeping a wary eye on governments for any signs of financial mismanagement or policies that could further hurt growth.
Under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and other programmes, launched by the IMF and the World Bank, western lenders agreed in the early 2000s to write off much of the debt of several African nations in a process that also demanded governance changes on the part of the countries that applied. An important goal was getting countries to the point that they could fund development in the capital markets rather than through lenders of last resort such as the IMF.
It worked. African nations sold about US$20 billion in sovereign bonds from 2009 through 2015 –for the most part to international investors – and most made strides in at least some of their key policy areas related to poverty reduction.
Ghana, an important exporter of oil, cocoa and gold, has issued four Eurobonds, raising US$3.75 billion, starting with US$750 million eight years ago. But the favourable trends that ushered the country into the market last decade have now reversed. Ghana’s economy is growing about 3%, down from an average of 8.6% in the last five years, as commodity prices have fallen. Ghana’s currency, the cedi, has fallen too, down 16% against the dollar since the start of the year.
The country does have the support of an IMF bail-out programme, which investors see as a guarantor of stability and good policies. Still, the pressures are again making it harder to raise needed financing. When Ghana sold a US$1 billion, 15-year bond in October, it was
17
forced to pay an interest rate of 10.75%, more than two percentage points higher than what it had paid a year earlier.
Similar dynamics are playing out elsewhere on the continent. In October the IMF slashed its 2015 growth expectations in sub-Saharan Africa by two percentage points to 3.75% and warned that countries would find it harder to borrow. The expected rate of growth would be the slowest in six years for the region.
“Appetite for African sovereign risk is clearly not what it was because of these global risk factors”, says Mark Baker, investment director in the emerging-markets debt group at Standard Life Investments.
“Governments in the region are having to realise that market financing has now become a lot more difficult and in most cases more expensive to access than it had been”.
Standard Life Investments has US$368 billion under investment and holds positions in debt issued by Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya and Zambia. Baker says that he isn’t selling off those positions, but he is closely watching the policy in those countries.
Investors and analysts complained when Ghana put the US$1 billion from a Eurobond offering last year largely toward day-to-day expenses such as salaries for public employees instead of projects that could speed growth and create jobs.
Ghana’s government, for its part, blames the rapid debt accumulation on a catch-22: the need to borrow to repay earlier, expensive debt, and the hit to the economy as well as government coffers
from the global collapse in commodities prices.
Most recently, the IMF and investors are praising the government in Accra for belatedly trying to turn the ship around with sounder fiscal policies as part of its IMF bail-out programme. Countries such as Kenya and Angola that weren’t part of the debt-forgiveness programme last decade are also coming under pressure.
Parliamentarians grilled Kenya’s treasury secretary last month, demanding accounting details that prove that the US$2 billion it raised in a debut Eurobond offering last year was spent on productive infrastructure as promised.
Fitch Ratings lowered its outlook on Kenya’s credit ratings to negative in October, largely because the country’s debt has swelled to 60% of GDP – a level many economists consider too high for an economy of Kenya’s size.
Foreign-currency reserves are shrinking in once-booming Angola, as the West African oil producer attempts to arrest a slide in its currency. The kwanza has lost about 30% of its value against the dollar since the start of the year. On 2 November, Angola raised US$1.5 billion in a dollar-dominated bond paying a 9.5% interest rate.
“In an ideal world they probably wouldn’t want to be issuing”, said Baker.
“But given the nature of the challenges that they face, they need to secure dollar financing”.
Source: Business day Live
18
German business mission interested in establishing partnerships with Mozambique
On Thursday 19 November, a German business delegation, led by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, met with roughly 40 Mozambican entrepreneurs during a business forum aimed at developing the existing business opportunities in both countries.
The business mission comprised of over 30 investors from sectors such as: the chemical industry, pharmaceuticals, information technology, construction, defence and security, forestry, agriculture and mining.
Germany is currently regarded as one of Mozambique’s major development partners, with support in areas such as education, public administration and investment in agriculture, industry, energy, infrastructure, banking, tourism and services.
Source: Jornal Notícias
EU announces new support for Mozambique
On Thursday 26 November, the European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, signed an agreement with Mozambique’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Nyeleti Mondlane, on behalf of the European Union. The newly ratified agreement will ensure the provision of €734 million in support to Mozambique.
On the matter, Commissioner Mimica said that: “There have been significant and positive political and economic developments in Mozambique over the
last decades since the end of the civil war in 1992. It is important to build on this progress whilst making the best use of Mozambique’s impressive economic potential, notably in the sectors of gas, mining, hydro-energy and agriculture.
“Mozambique could also benefit enormously from its strategic position in Southern Africa. Therefore, the key issue today is how to make economic growth inclusive and sustainable, while maintaining political stability”.
The €734 million in aid, provided under the National Indicative Programme for Mozambique for the period until 2020, will support a range of areas, including the promotion of the democratic system in the country, transparency, accountability and the rule of law and support for public institutions, in line with the government’s priorities.
Two areas will hold particular importance:
Good governance and development. Overall support will be provided to national public policy and its priorities, through a ‘Good Governance and Development Contract’ (General Budget Support instrument) as well as via complementary measures. EU support in this area will aim to strengthen the capacity of core government systems, control mechanisms, domestic accountability and macroeconomic management. The support from the EU will also help promote a conductive environment to support political and economic governance.
Rural development. In this regard, the EU’s support is two-pronged in its approach, to address both inclusive growth and poverty reduction in rural areas. The EU will help to improve food
19
security and nutrition, and enhance competitiveness amongst producers (through rural electrification and roads for example), in order to foster the conditions for sustainable growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in rural areas.
To strengthen the country’s civil society, many projects are also being carried out with financing from the EU via Non-State Actors, local authorities and the European Instrument of Democratisation and Human Rights (EIDHR).
Previous support to Mozambique
The National Indicative programme for Mozambique (NIP) from 2007 to 2013 (financed under the 10th European Development Fund with a total of €747 million) focused on transport infrastructure and regional integration, as well as on agriculture and rural development to promote sustainable economic growth in rural areas, enhance food security and promote trade flows.
Approximately half of the EU 10th EDF resources were provided through general budget support, sustaining the government’s efforts to ensure progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Under the same programme, the EU also funded additional activities on human rights, justice, anti-corruption, inclusion of NGOs, and trade, as well as the country’s health sector.
Mozambique has benefited from its partnership with the European Union with many tangible results, including improved food security. In this regard, in order to buffer the effects of soaring food prices, the EU continues to support the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in improving food security and the livelihood of poor rural agricultural families
in Mozambique. 25,000 farmers have benefitted from subsidised agricultural inputs (seeds and fertiliser) during two consecutive agricultural seasons, leading to an expected 50% increase in the production of maize and rice.
Transport issues and access to services have also been addressed, as projects have allowed the government to improve road infrastructure and reduce transport costs.
In a country where electricity is a luxury from which only a few benefit, access to energy projects funded by the EU have contributed towards the improvement of access to energy sources in rural communities (households, small businesses, schools and health centres) through the supply and installation of photovoltaic energy systems. The EU’s efforts have allowed for the electrification of 60 health centres and 120 medical staff houses through solar energy systems.
Source: European Commission
‘Namaskar Africa 2015’ – India-Southern Africa business forum opens in Maputo
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), in partnership with the government of India and the government of Mozambique, organised and hosted ‘Namaskar Africa 2015’ – a flagship business forum between India and the Southern Africa region. The event was held on 25 and 26 November at the Indy Congress Hotel and Spa, in Maputo.
‘Namaskar Africa’ is a joint initiative of FICCI and the government of India, which aims to promote economic co-operation by directly engaging with various Regional
20
Economic Communities in Africa. After the successful regional editions organised previously in Western Africa (Nigeria) Eastern Africa (Kenya) and Central Africa (Republic of Congo), Maputo was selected as the venue for the fourth edition because of Mozambique’s strategic location as a gateway to the Southern African region.
Southern Africa is the second largest trading block for India among the five sub-regions of Africa, accounting for 30% of India’s total trade (US$21.57 billion out of US$71.78 billion) in 2014-15, and from this India’s bilateral trade with Mozambique alone accounted for US$2.4 billion during the same period. Mozambique also accounts for 25% of India’s total investments in Africa.
The Minister of Industry and Trade, Ernesto Tonela, inaugurated the event on 25 November at the Indy Congress Hotel and Spa. A 10-member official and business delegation led by the Governor of Tete, Paulo Auade, also participated in this event.
Apart from Mozambique, business and official delegates from Southern African countries such as South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mauritius were also in attendance.
The Indian delegation, comprising of over 60 businessmen, was led by Anup Wadhawan, Director General of Foreign Trade of the government of India.
Indian companies representing agriculture, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, automotive and education, amongst others, participated in an exhibition held at the same venue.
Panel discussions focused on agriculture, healthcare, education and transport, and involved Indian delegates and senior government officials and businessmen from this region. B2B meetings were also organised during the event.
‘Namaskar Africa 2015’ is expected to enhance and diversify India’s economic engagement with this region and position Mozambique as a preferred destination for investment and trade.
Source: ANI
India is helping Mozambique meet its energy needs – in good ways and bad
Like many African countries, Mozambique faces extractive ventures which exploit its natural resources. Previously they came from the global north, but they increasingly originate from new players in the global economy such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (or BRICS). Whether the new investors will be more socially or environmentally responsible than the older ones, remains to be seen.
On the surface, the BRICS appear less exploitative and more co-operative. India, for instance, has emerged as a major player in Mozambique’s energy sector. This has been part of India’s growing trade links with the continent.
The recent third India-Africa Forum Summit underscored India’s growing ambitions in Africa. Over the last decade India-Africa trade has expanded by 14 times to more than US$70 billion, but it is still overshadowed by China.
India has considerable expertise in green economies, including bioenergy – which is a form of renewable energy made from
21
biological sources and solar photovoltaics. It has provided training to African partners in biogas, rural credit and food processing through the Indian Technical and Economic Co-operation programme since 1964.
But this southern engagement also has a pernicious side, entrenching high-carbon development.
The coal and gas rush
Mozambique now ranks second, after Mauritius, in India’s foreign direct investment in Africa. Much of it is targeting Mozambique’s burgeoning coal and gas industries.
In 2008, geologists confirmed that the Moatize coal seam in Tete Province is the world’s largest untapped coal deposit. It is rich in coking coal (used for manufacturing steel), and thermal coal (used for power generation). Mozambique is the second-largest player in coal in Africa, according to the Africa Energy Outlook.
Mozambique’s extractive boom has shifted to the Rovuma Basin, on the border with Tanzania, where Africa’s largest gas discovery occurred in 2011. Major investments are underway, with production expected for 2020. Analysts predict that Mozambique will gain US$115 billion from liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from 2020 to 2040. This will potentially reshape the State Budget, but require costly processing facilities.
While Brazil’s Vale and UK-based Rio Tinto were initially dominant, Indian firms have growing influence in Mozambique’s coal industry, spurred by Indian demand.
In 2014 Rio Tinto sold its Mozambique coal assets to India’s state-run International Coal Ventures Private Limited (ICVL). India’s Jindal operates Tete’s second-largest coalmine by production capacity. Indian firms and Vale plan to construct coal-fired power plants to fuel their operations. They will sell the excess power to Mozambique’s electricity utility.
These coal operations are detrimentally affecting nearby communities. To make way for Vale’s operations, 1,300 rural families were relocated in 2009.
An investigation by the Mozambique Centre for Public Integrity (CPI) found that the company had pursued a divide and rule strategy in dealing with the community. Houses for resettlement were built with leaky roofs and without foundations.
According to activists, Jindal has not found suitable land for resettlement and initiated mining while communities remain in the area. In some cases, mining commenced before Environmental Impact Assessments were completed.
Much of Mozambique’s gas is destined for Asian markets. Several Asian importers are jockeying for blocks of gas fields operated by Italian and US firms. A number of Indian firms jointly agreed to invest US$12 billion to develop an offshore block. India and Mozambique signed an accord in October 2014 to enhance co-operation in the nascent gas sector but very little content is publicly available.
Limited low carbon and renewable energy options
22
The growing threat of climate change has boosted the profile of renewable energy. The Mozambique government is pursuing investment in this area. Yet the State’s interest in renewables is tempered by the push to expand broader energy access. Mozambique has an electrification rate of 20.2% – among the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa.
A key example of BRICS engagement in low carbon development involves the tender to construct Mozambique’s first solar module plant. The project was facilitated by a US$13 million concessional loan from India’s Exim Bank and managed by the Mozambican state agency, National Energy Fund.
The plant opened outside Maputo in 2013, producing five megawatts (MW) of capacity annually. The inputs are externally sourced and Mozambique’s energy fund purchases most of the output, with little marketing to households. Only Indian firms were eligible to tender, reflecting India’s influence over the process.
Research suggests that India’s engagement in renewable energy in Mozambique is increasing. But it pales in comparison with the amounts invested in extractive resources.
India on the high carbon road
BRICS engagement in Africa has encountered little criticism. Indian investors are opening vast resources in Mozambique while building privatised infrastructure, such as upgrading the colonial-era railway linking Tete with Beira Port.
Some view this as fostering growth and diversifying international partnerships.
And this could potentially extend beyond energy into mutually beneficial co-operation and knowledge exchange.
But Indian investors targeting Mozambique’s extractive resources risk pushing the country onto a high-carbon pathway. This can be seen in the planned coal-fired power plants and involuntary population displacement. Such moves could steer the country in an unsustainable direction, making green growth and climate resilience more difficult to achieve.
Source: Economic Times/ The Conversation/Joshua Kirshner
March 2016 FID unlikely for Mozambique LNG
The sluggish global demand for LNG, coupled with the intense wrangling between the government and Anadarko Petroleum Corp., suggests that a March 2016 Final Investment Decision (FID) for the company’s giant onshore liquefaction project – as was recently announced by shareholder Mitsui – looks optimistic.
Anadarko still needs to finalise a host government agreement with Maputo, submit the project’s development plan and sign binding offtake contracts for the project to anchor the US$15 billion in debt financing. While Anadarko has secured heads of agreements for eight mtpa of the project’s 12 mtpa capacity, these have yet to be converted into sales and purchase agreements.
Additionally, Mozambican state oil company Empreesa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH) will likely rely on Anadarko to fund its 15% equity stake in the project. Interfax understands Anadarko is willing to finance the NOC,
23
but at a level estimated to be just a few basis points over ENH’s break-even price for the project.
The government will also need to re-award the contract for the construction of the Pemba logistics base, which will serve as the drilling logistics hub for companies operating in northern Mozambique. South African consortium Muyake originally won the contract, but was later side-lined in favour of ENHILS – a joint venture between ENH Logística (51%) and Italian-Nigerian company Orlean Invest (49%) – which has an opaque ownership structure that could create compliance problems. According to Interfax, Anadarko will not use the base unless Orlean is removed from the contract.
Other major sticking points are how much gas Anadarko will supply from Offshore Area-1 to the domestic market and how much it will charge for it. As low oil prices squeeze out the profits on the giant LNG development, Anadarko is negotiating tougher offtake terms with the government – which is relying on cheap gas feedstock to fuel downstream industrialisation.
Economy and security
As negotiations between Anadarko and ENH grind on, investor confidence in Mozambique is waning.
The government has grown increasingly reliant on the promised LNG revenues to meet its growing debt obligations, but this income is now likely to appear much later and be lower than initially projected, throwing the sustainability of Mozambique’s debt into doubt.
During the end of October, Maputo won a US$286 million emergency facility from the IMF, poised to help it cope with a
balance of payments crisis caused by falling prices for the commodities Mozambique exports and the weakening of its currency against the dollar.
Fitch joined Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s ratings agencies at the end of October in downgrading the country’s sovereign rating, a result of the worsening budget deficit and the fallout from the US$850 million bond refinancing for the State’s Ematum fishing venture two years ago.
The security outlook in the country continues to deteriorate – in September two attacks were carried out on the convoys of Afonso Dhlakama, leader of Renamo. However, the LNG site in the northernmost province of Cabo Delgado is far from the fighting, which has been focused in Renamo’s heartland in the north and centre of the country.
Given the high risk of the development – estimated to be one of the largest construction projects in sub-Saharan Africa – the appetite of commercial banks for the project is limited, and uncovered loans are expected to make up only a small portion of the project’s financing.
However, there has been strong interest from export credit agencies (ECAs). The likely re-opening of the United States’ Exim bank – which was expected to cover a large portion of Mozambique LNG’s financing – will be a major boost for the project.
US Exim lost its mandate to operate on 30 June and has been closed for business ever since. Ironically, representatives from Anadarko’s home state of Texas were among the most vocal in the campaign for the bank’s shutdown.
24
However, strong cross-party support for the bank helped push a bill through the House of Representatives in early November that will renew the bank’s charter until 2019. The bill still needs to be reviewed and sent to the two chambers of Congress for a final vote, but if it passes – which looks highly likely – the project partners hope to start re-engaging with the Exim as early as December.
Additional financing for Mozambique LNG should include support from Chinese, Japanese and Italian ECAs.
Other ECAs are also hoping to nudge their way into the lending group too. Interfax understands that Canada is offering up to US$1 billion in debt from its ECA to support oil and gas services provided by Kentz, which has worked on mining projects in Mozambique and was bought out by Canadian engineering and construction firm SNC Lavalin in August 2014.
Source: Interfax Europe
Government allows cost recovery for OVL’s export-oriented gas asset
In a positive development for ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), Mozambique’s government has agreed to offer cost-recovery rights for the production and development of its gas field and LNG terminal. Gas from the field is intended for export and is expected to boost OVL’s revenue and bottom-line in the coming years.
The managing director of OVL, Narendra K Verma, told reporters that: “The Mozambique Parliament has recently approved a new law, which allows cost-recovery for both the oil field and the (LNG) terminal”.
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of government-owned ONGC, teamed up with another state-run player Oil India Ltd and bought Videocon’s 10% stake in Mozambique’s Rovuma Area-1 for US$2.475 billion in June, 2013.
Subsequently, in February 2014, OVL went out on its own and bought another 10% stake in the same field from Anadarko Petroleum for US$2.64 billion. The 10% stake of Videocon, purchased jointly by OVL and OIL, is currently split in 6:4 ratio and total pay-out for OVL for the back-to-back acquisitions is US$4.125 billion.
Verma said that the gas sale negotiations were now being conducted with potential consumers. “OVL would start spending its share of US$2-3 billion for the first two LNG evacuation trains starting next year (2016)”. The deliveries from Area-1 are expected in 2018.
It is assumed that the cost of the LNG trains will be integrated with the upstream cost and the whole cost will be made recoverable under the exploration and production concession contract (EPCC) from the revenue streams.
Anadarko will continue to be the operator of the block, with its stake reduced to 26.5% from 36.5% after the deal. Rovuma Area-1 covers nearly 2.6 million acres in the deep-water Rovuma Basin, and represents the largest offshore natural gas discoveries in offshore East Africa with estimated recoverable resources of 45 to 70 trillion cubic feet.
The project, with capacity to produce 20 million tons of LNG annually, would be the world’s largest LNG export site after ExxonMobil-run Ras Laffan in Qatar.
25
In FY15, OVL production went up by 6% to 8.87 million tons of oil equivalent (mtoe) against 8.36 mtoe in FY14. In the current fiscal, it targets to cross nine mtoe output.
Source: Financial Express
Sasol to conserve cash as oil price falls
Petrochemicals giant Sasol is anticipating that the volatility of the Brent crude oil price, coupled with the weakening of the exchange rate, will have a severe impact on its performance.
The Brent oil price is under pressure and has fallen dramatically. As of Wednesday 25 November, it was quoted at US$45.71 (or ZAR641.07) a barrel.
Over the past year, Sasol’s share price has fallen by 21%.
Sasol’s share price on Wednesday rose 0.16% to ZAR416.44, which valued the company at ZAR271 billion.
Sasol’s Senior Vice-President of investor relations, Cavan Hill, recently told journalists that a US$1 barrel change in the oil price was expected to alter profits by ZAR810 million a year.
Similarly, a 10 cent change in the rand/dollar exchange rate would have a ZAR650 million impact on the profits, Hill added.
“We are exposed to the crude oil prices. A year ago Opec decided to defend its market share, resulting in the drop in crude oil prices. In response, we have a business plan to conserve cash”, Hill said.
As part of the plan, Sasol implemented a cost savings programme (a business performance enhancement programme)
with a target of between ZAR4 billion and ZAR4.3 billion by the end of the 2016 financial year.
Over and above this programme, it has implemented a low oil price response plan that will see it save an additional ZAR1 billion a year by the end of the 2018 financial year.
Hill was speaking as the company unpacked its gas strategy in Johannesburg (South Africa) on Thursday 26 November, and shifted its focus from coal to natural gas.
“Gas is an important part of diversifying the energy mix, our goal is that it will play an integral part of the mix”, Hill said.
Sasol is also developing an US$8.9 billion ethane cracker complex in Louisiana (United States), which is scheduled to begin operations in 2018 and expects the demand for natural gas to increase over the next five years.
Together with cash-strapped state-owned PetroSA, Sasol was awarded an exploration right permit in the offshore Orange Basin on the west coast in July.
The initial three-year exploration work programme comprises of a firm airborne gravity and magnetic survey, and based on these results a 2D seismic survey.
John Sichinga, the senior vice-president of Sasol exploration and production international, said that the permit was a “work in progress”.
“There has been a change of leadership; we have not met with the new leadership yet”, Sichinga said.
26
The Mozambican Role
Sasol anticipates that the Mozambican gas industry will play a bigger role in energy production after the company submitted its field development plan for the Pande and Temane production sharing agreement to the Mozambican authorities.
The company is now waiting for approval from the government.
Sasol also commissioned a 175 MW gas-fired power plant in Ressano Garcia with its partner, the state-owned power utility Electricidade de Moçambique (EdM).
At full capacity the plant will provide power to two million Mozambican citizens.
It is also exploring for gas in Mozambique, South Africa, Canada and Australia.
Sasol was the developer of stranded gas fields in Mozambique and has contributed approximately US$600 million to the country through royalties and taxes since 2004.
Source: Business Report
Mozambique must negotiate energy resources better – economists
Economists argue that the State’s weakness in terms of knowledge and experience in energy resources has directly contributed towards the poor negotiating capacity of the government vis-à-vis gas and other energy multinationals.
The government is currently negotiating a series of agreements with Anadarko, specifically the participation of ENH in Area 1 and the resulting share and price of gas destined for the domestic market.
According to the terms of the contract under negotiation, Anadarko offers to satisfy only a quarter of domestic gas needs at an uncompetitive price, which is seen as problematic.
João Mosca, a local economist, believes that if this deal is part of a strategy which envisages other companies also supplying Mozambique’s domestic consumption needs (and the sum of all these companies’ guarantees domestic supply) it may be a reasonable solution, but if otherwise it will be harmful for the country.
Mosca argues that Mozambique should retain a larger percentage of gas and export it. Different countries vary in this, with some retaining 10% and others almost 60%.
Another aspect examined by the economist is the real size of domestic consumption, “because this implies many other investments in gas distribution infrastructure and I do not know what this could mean in terms of proportion of the output of Anadarko, but a quarter could mean very little”.
The economist draws a comparison with what is happening in southern Mozambique with South African company Sasol, where – in addition to exports being lower than expected – the payment that the country receives from these exports is lower than prices in international markets, and the infrastructure investment that the company made for domestic gas supply is very limited.
If the same happens in the north, “then, for these companies, this type of contract will be very beneficial, in the sense that they will not carry out this type of internal
27
investment”, and expectations will again not be fulfilled.
For Mosca, the State is proving inadequate in relating to multinationals over this type of product. He believes that: “hiring independent experts to advise the government is still a very different thing than it would be if Mozambican experts were to do the job”.
Mosca further claims that important political figures have too much influence in these and previous business deals, especially in the north of the country.
Source: VOA Português
Anadarko’s new vice president inspects his domain
According to sources, Anadarko’s new vice president in charge of LNG, Mitch Ingram, a former executive of BG Group, was in Mozambique during the week 13 to 20 November, to meet with officials.
Ingram, who was appointed to the post in early November, also travelled to the village of Afungi where Anadarko plans to build an LNG plant close to Pemba. Although Anadarko had generally received a green light from the government concerning construction of the unit, talks appear to have run into an obstacle.
Source: Africa Intelligence
Geogas puts down roots on LPG markets
Geogas Entreprise, the Paris-based subsidiary of the Swiss holding company Geogas, which specialises in trading and distributing liquefied petroleum gas, is about to debut in the Indian Ocean area. The firm has acquired a 33% stake in
Prime Gas, a Mozambique-registered firm established in Maputo in June.
Working through Prime Gas, Geogas aims to increase consumption of the LPG the firm intends to market in the form of cylinders. In the coming six months, Prime Gas will build a gas import terminal as well as a cylinder-filling unit in the port of Nacala in northern Mozambique. The firm is currently conducting an environmental impact study on a plot of land in the zone as a prelude to signing the lease.
Initially, Prime Gas will import the gas it needs from West Africa or from the Gulf before producing locally. The timeline for that is highly uncertain. The managing director of Geogas Entreprise, Antoine Gudefin, a former export director at Total and marketing director for Shell, is overseeing the first steps in Mozambique.
In buying a 33% stake in Prime Gas from its former owner, Kuikila Investments – which retains a 37% holding – Geogas Entreprise will find itself working with a familiar partner. Kuikila is run by Portuguese businessman Diogo Alves Denis Vaz Guedes who also holds a stake in the state-owned Cameroonian trading and oil import firm Tradex, a unit of Cameroon’s SNH. Geogas bought into Tradex in May.
Guedes is well-connected in Mozambican business circles. He’s a partner of Valentina Guebuza, daughter of former president Armando Guebuza and the family’s spearhead in business, in the firm Mov Energy SA. It was founded in 2014 and deals in the production, management, transmission and marketing of electricity. Guedes is also chairman of Gespura SGPS, an investment bank in Lisbon.
28
Geogas was founded in 1979 and is highly active in Africa, especially in the Ivory Coast.
Source: Africa Intelligence
Karamehmet, a Turkish mogul who wants his piece of Mozambique’s gas
Ranked by Forbes magazine as one of Turkey’s richest men – his fortune is estimated at US$1.15 billion – Mehmet Emin Karamehmet is determined to get a piece of Mozambique’s gas bonanza.
He is the driving force behind a new company in Maputo, Mozgas Energy that specialises in exploring, producing and marketing oil and gas. The firm is linked to a company of the same name incorporated in London by Karamehmet and three countrymen in late August. Two companies, Artes Energy and Zen Navigation, own Mozgas.
Born in 1944, Karamehmet is the chairman of Çukurova Holding which operates in numerous areas (industry, construction, media, transportation, finance and energy). He is one of the first shareholders in the Turkish mobile telephone operator Turkcell, and also owns a stake in the E&P group Genel Energy which pumps oil in Kurdistan and owns several exploration licenses in Africa (Somali, Ethiopia, Morocco and Ivory Coast). Genel Energy was founded in 2011 when the equity fund Vallares, owned by former BP chief Tony Hayward, took over Genel Energy, in which Karamehmet was the leading shareholder.
Two companies hold equal stakes in Mozgas Energy. The first, Zen Navigation, is a Malta-incorporated subsidiary of the shipping company Geden Line, which is
itself part of Karamehmet’s Cukurova Holding concern.
The second corporate stakeholder in Mozgas is named Artes Energy. The Turkish firm founded in Ankara in 1973 has since moved its headquarters to London. It is active in the energy business, in Turkey in particular but also in Iraq and Central Asia. Artes is headed by Haydar Arda Cakmak who figures among the bosses of Mozgaz alongside Karamehmet. Other shareholders in Mozgaz are Turkey’s Feza Karagoz and Kor Kurt Akin. The latter also set up the London-based financial firm, Sequ Financials, with Cakmak in September.
Source: Africa Intelligence
Triton extends graphite find to east of Mozambique
Triton Minerals has discovered another source of jumbo flake graphite at a new prospect known as “T12” within the Ancuabe graphite project.
The Ancuabe project, which is about 100 kilometres due east of Triton’s world class Balama North project, is notable because of its exceptionally large graphite flake sizes.
The company maintains that Ancuabe graphite has the best flake size distribution in the world and the largest majority of jumbo and super jumbo graphite flakes.
Triton recently completed a 29 hole drilling campaign at T12 with all holes completed intersecting graphite mineralisation at greater than the targeted 5% total graphitic content (TGC).
The mineralisation was dominated by large graphite flakes, greater than 300
29
microns in size, with 43% of the mineralisation showing flake graphite over 500 microns – which is amongst the highest valued graphite product available.
Notable results include a 105 metre intersection grading with 4% graphite, which included five meters at 7.4% TGC. Other results include 15 metres at 5.9% TGC, five metres at 8.6% TGC, six metres at 6.5% TGC, four metres at 6.2% TGC, 12 meters at 6.1% TGC and 11 metres at 6.2% TGC.
Whilst most explorers tend to target at least 10% TGC, Triton Minerals has been targeting just 5% at T12 because of the exceptionally large sized graphite flakes.
On the matter, Triton’s Managing Director, Brad Boyle, said that: “The first interim results from Triton’s initial exploration programme at the Ancuabe T12 prospect have confirmed that the extensive graphite that is exposed at the surface also extends to depth with mineralisation developed over true widths of 100 metres. Triton is pleased to learn that every hole drilled to date has intersected intervals of very large flake graphite at grades that are as expected for this style of deposit.
“Only a small percentage of the targeted area has so far been drill-tested, and while Triton considers these initial results to be encouraging, the full potential of the project is yet to be realised.
“Metallurgical test work carried out by Triton earlier this year has indicated that Ancuabe graphite is of the very highest quality with respect to flake size and purity through simple limited stage flotation. Triton considers that the high prices that high purity jumbo flake can attract, and the confirmation of in situ grades that are typical for this style of deposit are positive,
it indicates towards a future viable graphite project.
“Triton considers the proximity of Ancuabe T12 to established infrastructure, such as hydro-electric grid power and a relatively short-haul by mostly sealed public roads to the port of Pemba, to be extremely advantageous with respect to advancing rapidly to production, should exploration results support a mining operation”.
To-date, only 700 metres of a possible four kilometre strike zone has been explored and the company says that there is still significant potential upside to be gained from the T12 prospect.
Source: Business News/ABN Newswire
Triton Minerals sets out entitlement offer details
Triton Minerals has outlined a timetable for one of its five entitlement offers, at an issue price of US$0.15 each, to assist in the development of its graphite projects in Mozambique.
The issue is partially underwritten by GMP Securities Australia to the value of US$4 million, which will aim to raise up to US$11,296,483.
Shareholders will also receive one free attaching option for every two shares subscribed for under the offer.
Last month, Triton lifted the measured resource at Nicanda Hill to 33 million tons at 12.3% TGC and 0.34% vanadium (V2O5) as part of a massive total resource estimate of 1.4 billion tons at 11.1% TGC.
This provides the basis for the 10-year projected life of mine at Nicanda Hill and reaffirms the project’s status as the
30
largest known high-grade flake graphite-vanadium deposit in the world.
Promisingly, metallurgical work has underlined the versatility of graphite from both Nicanda Hill and Ancuabe with new tests confirming large particle sizes and high recovery rates.
Graphite concentrates at both Nicanda Hill and Triton’s Ancuabe projects have achieved the highest levels of quality and purity without the need for chemical leaching, therefore reducing the overall production costs and increasing TMG product options.
Funds raised in the entitlement offer will define a resource at the P66 zone of Nicanda Hill at the Balama North project and also assist in resource estimation at the Ancuabe project.
Significantly, the scope of the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) will be widened from the offer proceeds to include the P66 zone of Nicanda Hill, Ancuabe and the joint venture manufacturing facilities in Mozambique and China.
The construction of the manufacturing facility in China with joint venture partner Yichang Xincheng Graphite Co. Ltd will also be undertaken.
New timetable for the entitlement offer:
Prospectus lodged at ASIC and ASX 25 November 2015.
Notice sent to shareholders 26 November 2015.
“Ex” date (date shares are quoted ex-rights) 27 November 2015.
Record date to determine entitlements 17:00hrs (WST) 1 December 2015.
Prospectus (together with entitlement and acceptance form) despatched to shareholders 2 December 2015.
Opening date 2 December 2015.
Closing date 17:00hrs (WST) 14 December 2015.
Source: Proactive Investors
Mustang raises funds to fast track its ruby projects
Mustang Resources has raised US$5.75 million to advance the development of its graphite, diamond, and recently acquired ruby assets.
Mustang is aiming to fast track the planned bulk sampling programme on the three highly prospective ruby prospecting and exploration licences that the company recently acquired. The licences are located in the world-class Montepuez area in Northern Mozambique. Short-term revenue prospects from bulk sampling activities are highly encouraging and could add significant value to Mustang.
Furthermore, the company is fully committed to the ongoing bulk sampling programme currently underway at the Save River diamond project, and also to advancing exploration activities at the Balama graphite project with the intention of defining a maiden JORC-compliant resource in the near term.
Funds have been raised from a range of Institutional and High Net Worth investors including a US$5 million investment from Lanstead Capital, a UK institutional investor that has completed a number of successful and value accretive investments in ASX-listed resources companies over the course of 2015.
31
Significantly, the capital raising was completed at a 6% premium to the 15-day VWAP prior to the issue. The issue price of the shares is US$0.20 per share with approximately 30 million shares to be issued, of which 25 million will be issued to Lanstead.
“Owing to the funds raised through first-grade institutional investor Lanstead, as well as additional capital raised through converting loans, Mustang is now well-funded to rapidly develop the Montepuez ruby project, which is conservatively targeting revenues of US$60 million from a 12 to 15-month bulk sampling programme.
“Funds raised will also be used for working capital on the exploration and further bulk sampling of the Save River diamond project, as well as for the further funding to advance our precious gemstone and graphite projects”, says Chairman, Ian Daymond.
Daymond also notes that investor interest in Mustang continues to grow and the company remains in discussions with other potential cornerstone investors.
Source: Mining Review
Operations resume at Metals of Africa site
Operations and resource definition drilling have restarted at Metals of Africa’s Balama Central graphite project.
During the course of the week 13 to 20 November, the company halted operations following the death of an exploration geologist at the camp.
On Monday 23 November, the company said that an autopsy had confirmed that the geologist had died of natural causes.
Drilling at Balama Central, which was aimed at defining a Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant maiden resource, was expected to continue until the onset of the wet season in mid-December.
Source: Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly
Three die in mine collapse in Zambézia
On Thursday 19 November, three illegal miners were killed, and two others were injured, when part of a mine wall collapsed in Gilé district (Zambézia Province).
The collapse occurred at the tantalum mine in Muiane which has been occupied by illegal miners for more than a week, with enormous damage to the mining installations and equipment.
The mine is operated by the company Tantalum Mineracao e Prospeccao Limitada, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Wildcat Resources Corporation.
The trouble began on 9 November when police shot dead an illegal miner who had slipped inside the mine in order to steal mine material. A group of rioters subsequently descended on the mine armed with rifles, machetes and pickaxes and proceeded to loot and destroy.
In control of the mine, the rioters and many other members of the local community – including children – began to hack at the cliffs towering over the mine, in an attempt to extract precious stones. The main product of the mine is tantalum, but tourmalines and other precious stones are also found there.
Safety precautions in illegal mining do not exist, and on Thursday part of the cliff collapsed and buried several of the
32
looters, killing three of them. Judging from the video footage, there was no police presence on the mine premises.
The police have promised to investigate the attack and looting of the mine, but so far no arrests have been made.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
Cahora Bassa not the cause of cheap power in South Africa
On Thursday 26 November, the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Pedro Couto, denied a claim by Renamo that electricity is cheaper in South Africa than in Mozambique because power from the Cahora Bassa dam is sold far too cheaply to the neighbouring country.
Speaking in the National Assembly, during a question and answer session between the deputies and the government, Minister Couto said that the total amount of power generated in the SADC region was 55,000 MW.
Of this, 43,000 MW (almost 80%) was generated inside South Africa. South Africa’s electricity imports from Mozambique (predominantly from Cahora Bassa) account for under 3% of the total power consumed in South Africa. Therefore, Minister Couto argued that it is impossible for the price charged for Cahora Bassa power to have a determinant impact on the final price paid by South African electricity consumers.
The minister argued that the reason why electricity is cheaper in South Africa than in Mozambique is that South Africa is an industrial country which uses large amounts of power at high and medium voltage. In Mozambique,however, 98% of
consumers are domestic, using power at low voltage.
Minister Couto said that it is more expensive to produce low voltage than high voltage power, because more transformation is required which increases the cost.
Asked about the unreliability of power supply in central Mozambique, Minister Couto said that cities such as Beira and Chimoio receive their electricity from the Chicamba and Mavuzi dams on the Revue River. These power stations were built under Portuguese colonial rule, in the early 1950s, and their efficiency has declined to less than 50% of installed capacity.
Major rehabilitation work began on the two Revue dams in 2014, and the minister said that when the work is finished next year they will operate at full capacity of 90 MW.
Renamo also complained that Zumbo (Tete Province) is not supplied from the Mozambican national grid at all, but from Zambia. Minister Couto said that was perfectly true, and other frontier regions also obtained their power from neighbouring countries – Milange (Zambézia Province) receives power from Malawi, and Espungabera (Manica Province) receives power from Zimbabwe, while the Kosi Bay area in the South African province of Kwazulu-Natal drew its power from Mozambique.
Such arrangements were common throughout the world he said, because it can often be cheaper and more rational to obtain electricity from a neighbouring country, rather than from a more distant national power source.
33
“Mozambique is part of the southern African region”, stressed the minister. “We are not closed-in on ourselves. You can’t run energy distribution on the basis of total isolation”.
Frelimo deputies found it strange that Renamo was complaining about electricity at a time when more of Mozambique is electrified than ever before. Francisco Mucanheia pointed out that in 2007, when the State took a majority holding in Cahora Bassa, only 64 districts had electricity. That figure has now risen to 146. Only six district capitals do not yet have electricity from the grid, and all are among the new districts set up last year by dividing existing districts into smaller units.
He reminded Renamo that, if it had not destroyed the power lines from Cahora Bassa in the 1980s, many more Mozambicans would now be enjoying access to electricity.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
Mozambique needs to invest US$500 million per year in electricity
Mozambique needs to invest approximately US$500 million per year to meet its current and future electricity needs, and produce a surplus to export to other Southern African countries. The investment would add an additional 250 MW a year to the power currently produced in Mozambique.
These figures were announced by the National Energy Director of the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, Pascoal Bacela, in Valletta (Malta), where the Commonwealth Summit is being held.
Bacela went on to say that, as well as power generation, the distribution network also required investment.
Mozambique is a growing country and will need more and more electricity for economic activity. Official figures indicate that 27% of Mozambicans had access to electricity last year (2014), compared to 7% in 2005.
Several power generation projects have been identified to meet domestic and export needs, which include Impandakua, Boroma, Lupata and Cahora Bassa North projects.
“These projects need financing, so Mozambique is here in Valletta on an economic diplomacy mission to attract investment from member states of the Commonwealth”, Bacela said, adding that the results of meetings had so far been encouraging.
Source: Rádio Moçambique
Road works delayed due to failure to pay contractors
According to officials of the National Roads Administration (ANE), the frequent setbacks in completing road works in Mozambique is due to delays on the part of the government in paying contractors.
The matter was raised on Monday 23 November, during a visit to the ANE headquarters by Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário.
“What we are asking of you, Mr Prime Minister is what needs to be done immediately, so that we don’t have road works paralysed? The answer is to pay on time the invoices submitted by the contractors”, said Joao Godinho, the co-ordinator of the Nampula-Cuamba road in
34
the north of the country. “We are making efforts to check the work, but we lose our power as inspectors, because we have debts to the contractors”.
The Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, Carlos Martinho, said that this situation arises because of the government’s dependence on foreign partners, who have promised to fund the roads. When these partners delay in disbursing the funds, the government delays in paying the contractors.
“Financing has led us to this situation”, he said. “We are going to have to renegotiate with our main partner, the Portuguese government. The objective is to find the paths to revitalise the financing, not only from Portugal, but also from other partners, such as the African Development Bank and the Japanese development agency”.
The ANE director of maintenance, Silvestre Elias, told the Prime Minister that the maintenance sector receives an annual budget of MT3 million (approximately US$57,700, at current exchange rates) and it is nowhere near enough.
To undertake its activities normally, the maintenance sector would need an additional MT5 million, he said. “The amount we receive is meagre”, said Elias. “Even so, we are working”.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
Public-private partnership brings in 200 more buses for Maputo and 126 new railway carriages for CFM
According to the Permanent Secretary in the Transport Ministry, Pedro Inglês, an additional 100 buses will soon be on the
streets of Maputo in a bid to help minimise the crisis concerning the city’s public transport system.
Inglês said that the 100 Yutong buses are already being housed at the Port of Maputo. They form part of an order for 200 vehicles, the remainder of which are expected to arrive in December and February.
The buses were acquired through a public-private partnership between the government’s Transport and Communications Development Fund and the vehicle import and marketing company, Sir Motors.
“The acquisition of these buses will help minimise the transport problem”, said Inglês. “When they come into circulation the number of buses and their frequency will be greater, and citizens will be able to travel more comfortably and in greater safety”.
According to the General Manager of Sir Motors, Amade Camal, the buses will be sold to the Mozambican Road Transport Federation (FEMATRO), which will operate the transport system in Maputo, the neighbouring city of Matola and the districts of Boane, Marracuene and Manhiça.
Inglês said that the buses are to be co-ordinated with rail and river transport in an “intermodal system”. Sir Motors is also involved in the rail side of the operation. Camal said that Sir Motors has formed a consortium with the publicly owned Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Mozambique (CFM), seeking to acquire 126 new rail carriages.
Camal said that 30 of these carriages will be for a surface metro, a scheme which
35
the Maputo and Matola municipal councils have been discussing for years.
These new carriages are in addition to CFM’s earlier acquisition of 62 passenger carriages and eight guard’s vans acquired for the southern and central rail systems earlier this year.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
Mozambique invites bids for next phase of Northern Export Harbour
Mozambique is inviting bids to build the next phase of the Nacala port in the north of the country, funded through a ¥29 billion (US$237 million) loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, as the country develops capacity to increase mineral exports.
The works will include building a new container wharf and yard, an accompanying bypass road, and a rail container terminal, according to an invitation for bids, published in the state-run Notícias. The port is roughly halfway between Tanzania’s main port of Dar es Salaam and the central Mozambican harbour at Beira (Sofala Province). Nacala is currently the country’s third-busiest port after Beira and Maputo, according to the Japanese agency.
An initial project for urgent rehabilitation of the port, funded by a Japanese grant, was completed by Japanese contractors in September. That project involved rehabilitating the container yard and berths, adding fuel storage, and upgrading firefighting capacity at the port.
The closing date for bids to construct the next phase of Nacala is 19 February.
The natural harbour at Nacala is 14 metres deep, making it “the best natural harbour in southeast Africa”, the Japanese funder said in June. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2018, along with road links between Nacala and Zambia.
Source: Bloomberg
Nacala airport opens to international flights in 2016
Nacala airport will begin receiving international traffic in March 2016.
According to the Chairman of Aeroportos de Moçambique (ADM), Emanuel Chaves, airlines operating in Mozambique will be able to start using the Nacala International Airport by March or April 2016.
Chaves was quoted as saying that the airport is expected to receive certification to operate as an international airport in December, at which point companies operating in the north of the country should begin to use it.
He added that ADM has been in contact with companies involved in the exploitation of natural gas in the Rovuma basin “to ensure that Nacala will become their airport of entry into Mozambique”.
Designed and built by Odebrecht in partnership with ADM, the Nacala International Airport opened in December 2014 with the capacity to serve 500 million passengers and receive 5,000 tons of cargo per year.
Chaves said that a request for the Nacala airport to be the only airport in the north of the country to handle international flights has already been delivered to national authorities.
36
The airport facilities occupy 30,000 square metres, and boast a 3,100-metre long runway, which can receive large aircraft, such as the Boeing-747.
Additionally, Chaves announced that an ‘airport city’ is to be built in Nacala (Nampula Province), in the north of the country.
Chaves said that: “We are working with public institutions based in Maputo who intend to have their regional headquarters in Nacala or in the North, because that is where the business is and where logistics must be improved. We have been receiving requests and have made visits aimed at identifying areas. The airport city will enable Nacala airport to become a hub of excellence”.
Chaves added that projects designed to make use of idle space at several national airports are underway. Projects have been launched at Nampula and Mavalane airports, with projects expected to be developed for Pemba Airport in Cabo Delgado and other airport terminals.
Source: Folha de Maputo/Rádio Moçambique
Beira Airport scheduled for passenger terminal makeover
Beira airport (in Sofala Province) will be modernised next year as part of a project undertaken by ADM.
The construction will focus on the passenger terminal, since the navigation system, lighting and operational areas were updated in 2010.
According to the director of ADM, Emanuel Chaves, the rehabilitation is intended to improve the airport’s image and provide a better user-experience as
part of ADM’s overall air transport marketing strategy.
Source: Rádio Moçambique
Post Office signs deal with largest bank
On Friday 20 November, the country’s largest commercial bank, Millennium BIM, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Post Office, under which the Post Office will act as an agent for the bank and offer financial services to its branches throughout the country.
The agreement, signed by the Chairperson of Millennium-BIM, Rui Fonseca, and the Chairperson of the Post Office, Valdemar Jessen, in the presence of the Minister of Transport and Communications, Carlos Mesquita, is intended to extend banking services to areas where there are no bank branches.
The partnership will enable the Post Office to reopen branches which were closed during the 1975-1992 conflict between Renamo and the Frelimo government. The Post Office has 120 branches scattered throughout the country, but only 30 are currently in use.
“We think this partnership between the two companies is strategic and intelligent”, declared Minister Mesquita. He thanked the bank for its commitment to overhauling the Post Office branches, and to the vision of financial inclusion stressed by the Bank of Mozambique.
Fonseca said that he believed the partnership benefit both sides. BIM would gain through expanding its financial network, while the Post Office would once again be able to make use of assets
37
which have been abandoned for many years.
The MoU forms part of the business plan of the Post Office for the 2015-2019 period.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
Transport Ministry organises investment conference for the Beira and Zambézia development corridors
On Friday 27 November, the Ministry of Transport and Communications organised an investor conference in Beira (Sofala Province), aimed at promoting investment opportunities in Sofala, Zambézia, Tete and Manica.
The conference covered agriculture, mineral resources, transport and tourism, infrastructure and the funding of the Beira and Zambézia development corridors with projects valued at between US$40 million and US$1.5 billion. The event was expected to attract approximately 300 domestic and foreign participants.
An exhibition on anchor projects detailing information and experience and the finance and development institutions connected with the Beira and Zambézia development corridors ran in parallel with the conference.
The Spatial Development Programme aims to promote spatial economic analysis in order to galvanize responses to the needs of the country’s key economic sectors.
Through this programme, sectoral assessment studies in the various development corridors are conducted in order to identify and prepare interventions
in transport infrastructure to help unlock the sectors’ economic potential.
Source: Rádio Moçambique
Country creates more than 200,000 jobs
On Thursday 19 November, the government announced that approximately 213,000 jobs were created in the country between January and September of this year, reiterating that its goal is to generate one million jobs over a five-year period.
According to the Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security, Vitória Diogo, who was speaking at a seminar on European business and labour issues in Maputo, the government has a strong interest in job creation.
“Alongside the employment induced by investments in a transversal perspective, the government has planned and is currently implementing measures to encourage self-employment and entrepreneurship, including the promotion of pre-professional internships, from which more than 4,300 young people have benefited through September this year”, she said.
The minister also stressed that job creation should not mean precarious employment, accidents and occupational hazards caused by a lack of compliance with safety, hygiene and protection at the level of work legislation. The minister stressed that companies should look at protective equipment and hygiene at work as an essential investment in modernising production processes.
Addressing the issue of hiring foreign labour, Minister Diogo said that in the
38
same period, 13,601 expatriates were legally contracted to work in Mozambique and 1,043 foreign workers were suspended by the labour authorities for having been recruited outside the legal framework.
“Recognising the shortage of qualified and skilled technicians in some areas, the government has paved the way for companies to legally recruit specialised foreign workers in order to fill vacancies where the country has pressing needs”, Minister Diogo said.
The minister called on EU companies in particular, and on the private sector in general, to act within the law and to prioritise the hiring of Mozambican workers as a rule, only taking on foreign workers where no suitably qualified national was available.
“Foreign direct investment within the rules established in the country is highly regarded. But let us always remember that we are operating in a state governed by law”.
Source: Lusa
New UNCTAD report backs commercial smallholder farms
On Wednesday 25 November, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) published its “Least Developed Countries Report”, in which it argues that: “The main route out of [rural] poverty is through some combination of market-oriented smallholder farming, non-farm activities and emigration from rural areas”.
The report warns that, despite urban migration, Mozambique’s rural working age population will increase by 40% by
2030. It also points out that Mozambique is one of only 11 least-developed countries where agricultural labour productivity has declined since the 1990s. The report argues that Mozambique needs to move faster to create rural jobs, on and off the farm.
The issue, however, is not just rural, because “agricultural growth, rather than overall economic growth, has been found to be the primary driver of poverty reduction at the national level”.
UNCTAD’s emphasis on commercial smallholders is due to the fact that they create more jobs, and because “agricultural yields have generally been found to be higher on smaller than on larger farms, leading to a shift of emphasis towards small farms in recent years”.
The first step is raising the productivity of commercial smallholders – largely family farmers who grow mainly for the market. This requires higher-yielding varieties, fertiliser, irrigation, and machinery. At the same time, rural non-farm business activity should be encouraged, typically linked to commercial farming – input sales, crop processing, equipment rental and repair, construction of roads and irrigation systems.
The report argues that, not only do non-farm businesses create more jobs, but “in least developed African countries in particular, rural non-farm income is typically the main source of cash for agricultural investment”.
Most smallholders cannot even afford to make small investments. So the report repeatedly stresses the need for public sector investment, input subsidies, and increased support for R&D and extension.
39
“Subsidy schemes for agricultural inputs can help to promote the adoption of higher-productivity technologies”. The unwillingness of private banks to provide rural credit will require public intervention – directly providing credit, subsidising credit, or at least initially providing low-cost or free inputs.
The report notes that: “creating and maintaining local food stocks can also play a major role in ensuring local food security and stabilising prices, by buying staple foods when supply is abundant, and selling them in the event of undersupply”, which clearly hints at a return to marketing boards, at least for food crops.
“The financial costs of rural economic transformation will be very considerable”, the report notes. “Most of these resources will, in practice, need to come from the public sector, and in many cases public funding will be needed even to catalyse private investment”. Some of this money could originate from the government, but UNCTAD calls on aid donors in this post-MDG era to shift their aid from social to productive sectors.
There is clearly space for more non-farm business. In Mozambique rural consumers spend 34% of their incomes on non-food products and buy 44% of the food they consume. The report notes that rural growth reduces poverty more than urban growth, as does movement of labour from agriculture to rural non-farm employment and to smaller towns rather than to large cities.
The report makes an important distinction between “push” and “pull” factors. Poorer households are generally “entrepreneurs by necessity”, pushed to seek additional incomes by the need to sustain a
minimum level of consumption through “survivalist income diversification” and pushed into areas of low income and high competition. By contrast “entrepreneurs by choice” are pulled by seeing opportunities to increase their incomes and wanting to build small businesses. It is this second group that needs support, because they will stimulate growth and create rural jobs.
Finally, the report comes out strongly against titling, land markets and microcredit. Security of tenure is important to encourage investment, but land markets “tend to result in large numbers of landless peasants”, who simply sell their land or lose their land when they cannot repay a loan.
The report maintains that there is no evidence that microfinance works and cites growing evidence of its “negative impacts”.
For more on the report, please see: http://unctad.org/en/Pages/Publications/TheLeastDevelopedCountriesReport.aspx
Source: The Hanlon Report
Mozambique remains among world’s least prosperous countries
Mozambique is ranked 119th out of 142 countries on the Legatum Institute’s annual Prosperity Index, which measures economic prosperity, well-being and quality of life.
Norway once again tops the ranking, while Switzerland is ranked 2nd for the third year in a row, and Denmark has risen from 4th to 3rd place compared to last year.
The index assesses 142 countries against eight criteria. These criteria include:
40
Economy assesses the size of the countries labour market, the unemployment rate, inflation and expectations for the economic environment of the country;
Entrepreneurship and Opportunities assesses aspects such as the cost of starting a business, spending on research and development and the favourability of the economic environment to entrepreneurs;
Governance assesses government stability and effectiveness, corruption, separation of powers and the rule of law;
Education assesses the quality of school, higher education and the student-teacher ratio.
Health evaluates aspects such as infant mortality, health expenditure per capita, the number of hospital beds and water quality;
Safety assesses the number of refugees and internally displaced persons and political and urban violence;
Individual Liberty evaluates tolerance toward immigrants, minorities and civil liberties; and
Social Capital examines the percentage of citizens who perform social work, donations to charities, marriage rates and the religiosity of the population.
Last year (2014) Mozambique ranked 120th, ahead of Malawi (122) and Zimbabwe (128), and just behind Tanzania (117) and Zambia (113).
South Africa ranked 75th on the list, closely followed by Botswana (77), which was ranked the most prosperous in the region last year. Namibia stood at 94.
According to the report, “The resource-exporting countries of sub-Saharan Africa have experienced a slump in prosperity. Major resource exporters such as Botswana and Namibia fall four places in the Prosperity Index, due to a massive 19 place fall in the Economy sub-index. Botswana (77) is no longer the most prosperous country in sub-Saharan Africa as a result, falling just behind South Africa (75)”.
“Many of the major resource-exporting countries of sub-Saharan Africa have slipped down the rankings of the Prosperity Index this year because they have failed to diversify their economies. By contrast, some of the more diversified economies have become more prosperous. The lesson is that national success is about continual improvements in the health, education and well-being of citizens, not just short-term economic growth”, said Nathan Gamester, Programme Director at the Legatum Institute.
Botswana has fallen 17 places, Namibia 26 places and Zambia 15 places down the Economy sub-index since last year. As a result, these countries are less prosperous, according to the report.
“The end of the commodities boom has left people in the resource-exporting countries of sub-Saharan Africa increasingly dissatisfied with their standards of living. Only 30% of people in Zambia are satisfied (down from 38% last year); only 32% of people in Botswana are satisfied (down from 42% last year) and only 43% of people in Namibia are satisfied (down from 67% last year)”, the report says.
Rising up the Index are diversified economies such as Ethiopia, which has
41
risen seven places up the Prosperity Index since 2012.
Ethiopia has seen a surge in investment – Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has grown by over 200% and is now 2% of GDP.
Other diversified economies have also performed well. Togo is up seven places in the Prosperity Index since last year and has also risen seven places in the Economy sub-index.
The top five in the region are: South Africa, Botswana, Namibia (94), Senegal (100) and Rwanda (101).
Portuguese speaking countries Angola, Brazil and Portugal ranked 133, 54 and 27 respectively.
In comparative terms to other evaluations, Indonesia has performed better than any country in the world over the past seven years, rising 21 places up the rankings to 69th place this year.
A strong performer since 2009 is Rwanda, rising 17 places up the Prosperity Index. At the other end of the scale the poorest performers have been Syria (down 23 places), Tunisia (down 28 places) and Venezuela (down 16 places).
The countries with the lowest ranking are the Central African Republic (142), followed by Afghanistan (141), Haiti (140), Chad (139), Burundi (138) and DRC (137).
The ranking is divided by countries of High prosperity (1-30), Upper-Middle Prosperity (31-71), Lower-Middle Prosperity (72-11) and Low Prosperity (113-142).
To consult the Index please see: www.prosperity.com
Source: O País/The Legatum Prosperity Index
42
POLITICS
President Nyusi calls for unity among Former Liberation Movements
On Friday 20 November, President Filipe Nyusi declared that the ruling parties which once formed the former liberation movements of southern Africa “must remain united and in solidarity, today as yesterday, in order to overcome the obstacles along our journey, which is still long”.
The Mozambican President was opening a summit of heads of the former liberation movements attended by the presidents, or their representatives, of Frelimo (Mozambique), MPLA (Angola), the ANC (South Africa) SWAPO (Namibia), ZANU-PF (Zimbabwe) and Chama Cha Mapinduzi (Tanzania).
Speaking in his capacity as the leader of Frelimo, President Nyusi told the summit that: “the end of colonialism and of apartheid in our countries marked the start of a new historical stage. It is a stage where we have, on the one hand won political power but, on the other, we must address the battle for economic development, and build the dignity necessary for our peoples”.
Parties are not like individuals, President Nyusi stressed. “They cannot and must not grow old”, he said. “Instead, they must remain young because the ideals we defend are as necessary and legitimate as they were yesterday”.
“Our parties have already proved that they are not ephemeral”, he continued.
“Our parties did not emerge out of greed for power. They are the result of the
people’s cause. They result from a genuine desire for liberation and a pressing will to emancipate our peoples”.
President Nyusi declared that the new challenge facing the former liberation movements is on the economic front, for which “we need once again to use our collective intelligence, based on solidarity and concerted determination”.
“The current global economic situation is clearly less favourable to us”, he warned. “Together we must reflect on more effective economic measures so as not to interrupt the growth of our countries”.
There is no doubt about the brotherhood and political cohesion between the six parties, and so similarly “there should be no fear about expanding our economic relations”, President Nyusi declared.
He called on the parties to influence the governments of their countries “to open the gates to our business people and other stakeholders in our economies, so that they can work together in order to find a way out that avoids the suffocation that the current global situation seems bent on imposing”.
“Economic co-operation will certainly sustain our political survival”, President Nyusi insisted.
Other peoples, countries and parties “should regard us not as a threat, but as partners”. The liberation movements in the past were partners against oppression and discrimination, and today “we are loyal partners in development”.
43
Speaking at a press conference on Friday evening, President Nyusi said that the summit concluded that the desired well-being and stability could only be achieved by promoting economic development.
“We have to continue implementing the agreements already signed”, said the President. “And we need to establish partnerships”.
In the political area, the summit noted with satisfaction that democracy today is shared factor in the southern African region, and there is increasing respect for universal principles.
“We analysed the way in which elections have taken place, in the search for solutions to always do things better. We need to be respected as countries and as peoples”, President Nyusi said.
At the summit, the former liberation movements called for a common school, open to all, to be established in Tanzania, the country which hosted the liberation movements during their struggles against colonialism and apartheid. Among other subjects, the school will teach the history of the liberation struggles.
The meeting condemned the kidnapping and murder of albino citizens, and stressed the need for co-ordinated actions across the region to protect albinos, and to halt the spread of crimes against them.
In the past, the objective of the liberation movements was “to free the land and the people”, said President Nyusi. “Today the goal is to fight for a decent life”.
Two other heads of state attended the summit – President Jacob Zuma, leader of the ANC, and President Hage Geingob, leader of SWAPO. MPLA president Jose Eduardo dos Santos was represented by Roberto de Almeida, the party’s deputy president.
Jakaya Kikwete, who is no longer president of Tanzania, but remains at the head of CCM, was represented by CCM secretary-general Abdulrahman Kinana, while the president of ZANU-PF, Robert Mugabe, was represented by the party’s secretary for administration, Ignatius Chombo.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
Major changes in Niassa district administrators
The Minister of State Administration and Civil Service, Carmelita Namashalua, recently appointed seven new district administrators, transferred six and left only four in their current posts in Niassa Province.
The new administrators are:
Botelho Chuni, appointed to Mandimba district;
Edite Ramalho to Metarica;
Angelina Nguirazi to Marrupa;
Calisto Mussa to Mecanhelas;
Augusto Assique to N’gauma district;
Antonio Guido to Majune; and
Alberto Mussa to Lichinga district.
As per the minister’s order, the following administrators have been transferred from their districts:
Deolinda Alfeu, from Nipepe to Lago;
44
Isalde Ussene, from Marrupa to Cuamba;
Ana Maria de Lurdes Massenger, from Majune to Nipepe;
Ines Tadeu, from Quissanga-Cabo Delgado to Sanga-Niassa;
Simões Zalambessa, from Marromeu-Sofala to Chimbonila-Niassa; and
Assane Jackson Omar, from Mecanhelas to Moma-Nampula.
Additionally, Abilio Moura Jorge, former administrator of Lago-Niassa was transferred to Meconta-Nampula.
The same document states that the following administrators cease to function: Manuel Cabral (Cuamba), Domingos Castande (Metarica), Paulino Mussa (Sanga), Lucia Salimo (Ngaúma) and Felisberto Muterua (Chimbonila).
The administrators of Muembe (Eduardo Assane Ali), Mecula (Emiliana Muatenlero), Maúa (João Manguinji) and Mavago (José Achida Assane), remain in their current posts.
On Friday 20 November, the governor of Niassa swore in eight of the newly appointed and transferred administrators, urging them to nurture teamwork and avoid divisionism, tribalism and localism.
Arlindo Chilundo said that the Niassa provincial government would set achievement goals to be met by district administration, and the new administrators pledged to continue to work towards the development of their respective districts’.
Source: Rádio Moçambique
Renamo deputy insults President Nyusi
António Muchanga, party spokesman for Renamo, may be facing parliamentary sanctions, following an insult he threw at President Filipe Nyusi during a question and answer session held on Wednesday 25 November, between MP’s and government ministers.
Muchanga sneered at President Nyusi’s recent orders for the defence and security forces to show restraint in disarming members of Renamo’s illegal militia. Muchanga subsequently referred to the President as ‘Filipezinho’ (‘little Filipe’).
While the use of the diminutive is often seen as affectionate in circles of family and close friends, using it of a public figure in the middle of a parliamentary debate is highly pejorative and disrespectful.
Taken aback, the Speaker of House, Veronica Macamo, declared that: “the head of state requires respect from all of us. We will not allow this; I have never called you ‘Antoninho’ (‘little António’)”.
This rebuke was not enough for MP’s from the majority Frelimo Party. The head of the Frelimo parliamentary group, Margarida Talapa, said that MP’s who show disrespect for the President should be punished under the parliamentary standing orders.
“In the name of Frelimo, I ask for sanctions to be taken against MP Muchanga”, she said.
The head of the Renamo parliamentary group, Ivone Soares, said that: “I agree that we should moderate our language”,
45
but demanded that Frelimo MP’s should also show respect for Renamo leader, Afonso Dhlakama.
She claimed that the first Frelimo speaker in the debate, Francisco Mucanheia, had been “offensive” towards Renamo in the past. In fact, while Mucanheia had been strongly critical of Renamo’s failure to disarm, he had not descended to personal abuse, and had even praised Dhlakama for allowing his personal bodyguards to be disarmed in Beira on 9 October.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
Government analysing 19 requests to transfer services to municipalities
On Thursday 26 November, Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário said that: “the government is assessing the technical, human, financial and organisational skills of 19 municipalities that have expressed interest in managing [their own] primary education and health services”.
Answering a question put forward by the Mozambican Democratic Movement (MDM) on the transfer of management functions to the Beira, Quelimane and Nampula municipalities, Prime Minister Rosário said that this would take place only when the technical and organisational capacities required (especially the human, material and financial resources), were in place.
“Within the context of the assessment of the technical, human, financial and organisational capabilities the analysis of expressions of interest for the transfer of management of primary education and health services, not only the cities
of Beira, Quelimane and Nampula, but also other municipalities such as Matola, Xai-Xai, Inhambane, Dondo, Marromeu, Chimoio, Gorongosa, Maxixe, Massinga, Vilankulo, Gondola, Manica, Catandica, Pemba, Lichinga and Cuamba, is ongoing” explained the Prime Minister.
According to Prime Minister Rosário, the transfer of state functions to local authorities entails administrative decentralisation and a degree of local government autonomy which must necessarily, and by law, be undertaken gradually.
According to the Prime Minister, the government will continue working towards a public administration based on merit, efficiency and professionalism and on respect for the principles of legality, transparency and impartiality, which serves all citizens, regardless of political affiliation, better and better.
Source: Notícias
President Nyusi attends Commonwealth Summit in Malta
President Filipe Nyusi will be in Malta from 27 to 29 November, in order to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
The Malta Summit will be held under the motto “Adding Global Value”, and will focus on strengthening co-operation and collaboration among member states of the Commonwealth, in light of the new global framework for sustainable development.
The Commonwealth brings together states and territories that were part of the former British colonial empire.
46
Mozambique is the first exception to this membership criteria, since it was once a Portuguese colony.
At the time of Mozambique joined the Commonwealth in 1995, the Goverment
justified the move by arguing that the country has former British colonies as neighbouring states.
Source: Lusa
SECURITY
President Nyusi calls for restraint in disarming Renamo
On Thursday 19 November, President Filipe Nyusi called for restraint in disarming Renamo’s illegal militia.
Speaking in Moamba (Maputo Province) during a graduation ceremony for newly trained prison guards, President Nyusi put the brakes on the compulsory disarmament of Renamo, calling instead on the Renamo militiamen to hand over their weapons voluntarily.
“I am using this podium to order restraint in the compulsory disarmament, providing an opportunity for everyone to
voluntarily hand over that which they think they should not possess”, said President Nyusi. “Above all, this will allow us to work towards dialogue, in the spirit of trust and mutual willingness”.
“If there is no willingness on the part of all those involved in the peace process, peace may not be achieved”, he warned.
“I am ready to speak with anybody, including the Renamo leadership, in order to effectively re-establish peace”, President Nyusi declared. “This is so that we can find solutions that will bring peace to all Mozambicans”.
The President once again appealed to the Renamo militiamen to hand over their guns, “so that the ownership of weaponry is reserved only for the defence and security forces, based on a spirit of concord”.
This emphasis is quite different from that given by Interior Minister Jaime Monteiro, when he addressed the National Assembly on 4 November. At the time, Minister Monteiro promised “to strengthen the collection of weapons that are in illegitimate hands”, and pledged that this collection would continue “until the last firearm in unauthorised hands is collected coercively or handed over voluntarily”.
President Nyusi was clearly suggesting the re-opening of talks with Renamo. But it was Renamo who, in August, unilaterally broke off the dialogue with the government, on the instructions of its leader, Afonso Dhlakama.
Dhlakama himself publicly rejected the invitation from President Nyusi, issued in late August, for a face-to-face meeting in Maputo. Currently Dhlakama has dropped off the radar. He has not been seen in public since 9 October, when the defence forces disarmed his bodyguards in the central city of Beira (Sofala Province).
47
Addressing the newly trained prison guards, President Nyusi called for selfless dedication to the tasks entrusted to them. He reminded them that: “the people are with you in the mission you will be carrying out as from today”.
Approximately 600 guards from all over the country graduated from the course, which lasted for a period of six weeks.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
Illegal weapons “pose no threat to overall stability of Mozambique” – Minister Monteiro
On Friday 20 November, the Minister of the Interior, Jamie Monteiro, publically said that weapons outside the control of the State pose no threat to the overall stability of the country.
During the closing session of the Permanent Joint Commission of Defence and Security between Malawi and Mozambique, Minister Monteiro said that: “at any time the government may come to the conclusion that the compulsory collection of weapons is not justified if people are giving them up voluntarily”.
The meeting of the Permanent Joint Commission took place in Mangoche (Malawi), during the course of the week 13 to 20 November. According to Minister Monteiro, a consensus was subsequently reached on maintaining a peaceful environment and better managing the common border.
Source: Folha de Maputo
Prime Minister urges Renamo to disarm voluntarily
On Thursday 26 November, Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário urged members of Renamo’s illegal militia to surrender their guns and return to Mozambican society.
Speaking in the National Assembly, following a question and answer session between the MP’s and the government, Prime Minister Rosário praised the “pragmatism” shown by President Filipe Nyusi last week when he ordered the defence and security forces to show restraint in disarming Renamo, and to act “in a more moderate manner, so as to give way to dialogue, seeking to attain effective peace”.
Prime Minister Rosário urged all political and social forces to respond positively to this gesture from the President, and “to voluntarily hand over guns which are in illegitimate hands”.
The Prime Minister declared that, the establishment of peace and stability is “the fundamental condition for attracting investment” and for sustainable development.
Prime Minister Rosário made a similar appeal on Wednesday 25 November, at the start of the two-day debate, but it fell on deaf ears. Repeatedly, Renamo MP’s who intervened in the debate made it clear that their party has no intention of disarming. One of the deputies, Carlos Manuel, even demanded that the ruling Frelimo Party disarm the police before Renamo would disarm, and Joao Lopes echoed this attempt to equate the defence and security forces of the State with Renamo’s private army.
48
Francisco Maingue accused the government of importing new military equipment “to assassinate political leaders”, while Carlos Maela claimed that Frelimo is “a party of criminals”.
For Frelimo, Francisco Mucanheia urged Renamo deputies to accept “that the strength of their party does not lie in resorting to weapons in a bid to change the constitutional order”.
“We understand the difficulties Renamo faces in transforming itself from an armed rebel movement into a genuinely political civilian party, participating on a footing of equality in political competition with other parties”, he added. “We encourage Renamo to organise itself better and believe in itself so that it can occupy its space in the national political panorama without needing to violate the constitution and the laws”.
From the Renamo MP’s there came strings of insults, perhaps none more startling than the claim by Vasco Manuel that Frelimo “is committing atrocities and heinous crimes, which have been its way of life since it was founded in 1964”. Apart from getting the date wrong (Frelimo was founded in 1962), the deputy was claiming that the entire war of independence, waged by Frelimo from 1964 to 1974, was “a heinous crime”.
Renamo also claimed that all Frelimo electoral victories were fraudulent and that the government was therefore “illegal”.
Frelimo deputy Caifurdine Manasse responded that, when the electoral law had been overhauled (in February 2014) the Frelimo majority in the National Assembly had given Renamo everything
it demanded. Renamo was therefore represented in every electoral body at all levels and all stages in the elections.
“We all know that Renamo had election delegates and polling station monitors who confirmed its defeat”, declared Helena Musica.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
Renamo accuses the government of imitating the “Angolan solution”
Renamo deputy, José Cruz, has accused the government of aspiring to imitate the “Angolan solution” and of trying to eliminate Afonso Dhlakama, as happened with Jonas Savimbi, president of UNITA.
“Will peace keeping conform to the Angolan model, as [President] Filipe Nyusi suggests when he expresses his admiration for the Angolan solution?” asked Cruz.
On his recent state visit to the country, President Nyusi cited Angola as an example where the main opposition party in the country is not armed, unlike in Mozambique, whereas Renamo has retained an armed contingent despite the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed in Rome in 1992.
On Wednesday 25 November, Cruz repeated accusations previously made by Renamo, that the government intends to eliminate the leader of the movement, as happened to Jonas Savimbi, who was killed in combat in February 2002.
49
“The government declared war by announcing the disarmament of Renamo and it has been purchasing weaponry as part of a strategy that includes the death of Afonso Dhlakama”, Cruz said.
Following this accusation, Renamo spokesperson, António Muchanga, alleged that the government was forced to pull back in its efforts to disarm the opposition party in response to what he described as the “defeat suffered by the Mozambican forces of defence and security at the hands of armed Renamo men”.
Muchanga was referring to the “battle of Mathale”, which he claims “saved the country”. According to Renamo, the “battle of Mathale” recently took place in Inhambane Province between the Mozambican Army (FADM) and Renamo’s militia. There is no evidence to suggest that this so-called battle occurred.
Source: Folha de Maputo/Lusa
It is difficult to give balanced account of the disarmament process – police
On Thursday 26 November, the General Command of the Mozambican police said that it is difficult to give an accurate reading of the disarmament of the armed wing of Renamo – especially now that the operation has entered a phase based on persuasion rather than coercion.
“An assessment of the removal of weapons is difficult, because this process is ongoing and subject to changes, with starting and end-points of the operation undefined”, said police spokesperson, Inácio Dina.
However, Renamo spokesperson, António Muchanga, said that the Mozambican defence and security forces could only point to two weapons seized from members of the movement’s armed wing, against the 200 he claims have been seized by Renamo in clashes with government forces.
Dina subsequently declined to comment on the figures given by Muchanga, merely saying that “the data are those of a politician”.
“Our primary position is that weapons are to be voluntarily handed over to authorities and if we resorted to coercive means it was for the sake of restoring public order”, said Dina.
Dina said that the Mozambican defence and security forces will heed the call for restraint issued by President Filipe Nyusi in its actions aimed at the disarmament of Renamo.
Source: Lusa
Mozambique’s conflict will not be solved by the collection of weapons – Catholic Church
The Catholic Church in Mozambique maintains that the cancellation of the compulsory disarmament process shows that the government is gradually realising that the situation in the country is very complicated and cannot be solved by the mere collection of weapons.
The Auxiliary Bishop of Maputo, Dom Carlos Nunes, says that the Catholic Church has always been convinced that the conflict in Mozambique cannot be solved only through weapon collection,
50
and that the conflict “is complex and beyond mere political questions, but also has to do with how society is organised and how the distribution of national wealth is managed”.
According to Calton Cadeado, an expert in international relations and conflict issues at the International Institute of International Relations of Mozambique, President Filipe Nyusi’s message is aimed at the defence and security forces, Renamo, the people of Mozambique and the international community.
Voice of America has learned from a military expert that, following instructions from President Nyusi, the Defence and Security Forces will no longer attack Renamo bases, but will instead insist that the guerrillas surrender their weapons voluntarily.
Source: VOA Português
The existence of armed groups in Mozambique is unacceptable – AU Ambassador
The Ambassador of the African Union (AU) to the United Nations, Téte António, has condemned Renamo’s attitude, and considers the presence of armed political groups within the country to be “unacceptable”.
Ambassador António publically admitted that Mozambique is currently experiencing “setbacks and challenges” in terms of democracy, which is a direct result of the crisis between the government and Renamo.
“I would not say that Mozambique has democratic problems. I call it democratic processes. We are often astonished and
dissatisfied by the evaluations of the African continent. A minor situation in Africa can often be multiplied by a thousand”, commented Ambassador António.
According to the ambassador, it is unacceptable that there are armed political groups in the country.
“Political uncertainty is when we do not even know where the country is going. I believe that Mozambicans know where they are going and any action that may disrupt this journey will not succeed”, he said.
In his opinion, the Mozambican people are “mature enough” to reject any attempt to re-establish a state of armed conflict.
Source: Jornal Notícias
More than 600 students miss exams in Zumbo due to “political instability”
More than 600 second-grade students from Zumbo (Tete Province) did not sit their annual exams due to the politico-military situation in the region.
The director of the Education, Youth and Technology District Services in Zumbo, Jorge Vilanculos, told reporters that parents and guardians had fled to neighbouring Zambia as a result of the threat of clashes between Renamo and the defence and security forces.
Vilanculos said that the students affected are predominately from Cassinga and Mbadua and that he has sent out teams to talk to local community leaders about the situation.
51
The politico-military instability has also led to school closures and student absenteeism in Tsengano and Moatize (Tete Province), and Morrumbala (Zambézia Province).
The renewed tension stems from Renamo’s refusal to recognise the results of the general elections of October last year and its proposal to rule in the six provinces where it claims victory, threatening to seize power by force if necessary.
The worst political and military tension since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed in Rome in 1992, was recently sparked by a police operation to disarm the remaining Renamo combatants.
However, on Thursday 19 November, President Filipe Nyusi asked the defence and security forces to suspend the disarmament process, and the following day, Interior Minister Jamie Monteiro said that the weapons outside state control pose no threat to the overall stability of the country.
Source: Lusa
Mozambican refugees face uncertain future in Malawi
The administrator of Moatize district, Elsa da Barca, has appealed to all the Tete residents who fled into Malawi to escape clashes between Renamo gunmen and the defence and security forces, to return to the country as soon as possible.
Barca said that she had visited Malawi to see for herself the situation of the refugees, currently living in the Malawian district of Mwanza. The
refugees are mostly women and children from the Moatize regions of Ndande and Nkondedzi.
Barca said that the refugees can receive assistance from the government to return to Mozambique, where the authorities will provide the necessary logistical assistance.
She told the refugees that there is no war in Mozambique, and that the government is merely disarming the Renamo militia, since weaponry should be under the control of the State, and under Mozambican law no political party should have military equipment.
When Barca met with the Malawian authorities, the Mwanza administrator, Gift Raposo, assured her that there is no Malawian support for Renamo, and pledged to help mobilise the Mozambicans to return home.
He was pleased that the Moatize district government is urging the Mozambicans to return, since this will relieve the pressure on Malawi which has nothing to offer to the refugees.
When Rádio Moçambique correspondents visited Mwanza, they found that the Malawian authorities are unable to provide humanitarian assistance to the refugees, and the majority of the Mozambican children are displaying signs of acute malnutrition.
The refugees have no access to clean drinking water, or to agricultural land. It is feared that, if it rains, the refugees will be highly vulnerable to waterborne diseases.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique/Rádio Moçambique
52
President Nyusi urges media to reproduce “culture of non-violence”
On Monday 23 November, President Filipe Nyusi urged the country’s media to reproduce the culture of non-violence, dialogue and permanent debate, in order to contribute towards maintaining and consolidating effective peace.
President Nyusi made this recommendation at the opening of a national conference on the role of the media in combating violence and promoting peace, organised by the Higher Mass Media Council (CSCS), the watchdog body on press freedom and the right to information established under the Constitution.
President Nyusi stressed that, to block the culture of violence it is never enough to simply use the police or other coercive means.
“You have to respond with a culture of non-violence, a culture of dialogue and open and permanent debate”, he said. “This culture must be reproduced day after day in the mass media. We have to speak of peace not just when we are directly threatened. True peace is a culture of listening and constructive dialogue. Each newspaper and each radio or television station should be a classroom where we learn citizenship, where we learn that we belong to the same family”.
President Nyusi noted that various forms of violence exist in societies, some more visible, others more hidden and silent. But all should be denounced – including the violence against albino citizens, against women, against widows, against the elderly, or against
children. All of these should be a matter of permanent concern to the media.
President Nyusi urged the media not to stop here, but also to publicise specific cases of exemplary and positive behaviour, such as the countless people who set examples of bravery in the struggle against crime and violence.
The media, he continued, should also speak of examples of solidarity and assistance for the more vulnerable strata of society, and divulge the merits of all those who are building a more peaceful, co-operating nation, based on moral values.
Because effective unity will lead to a climate more favourable to peace, the President promised that, in his own speeches, he will continue to proclaim the need for a united and cohesive nation.
“I shall continue to defend the nation against any attempt at division”, said President Nyusi. “So that this message becomes part of the life of each Mozambican, it must be converted into specific episodes, into stories of people who have a name and a face”.
For his part, CSCS Chairperson, Tomas Vieira Mario, declared that the most important theme on the national agenda is the end of violence in society, particularly politico-military violence, and the restoration of effective and lasting peace.
“We know how relevant the role of the media is”, he added, “since it is through the media that practically the entire narrative of violence and peace reaches the public, in the cities and the countryside inside the country and
53
abroad. It is through the reporting in the media that public opinion is built about the profile, objectives and strategies of the parties in conflict”.
Vieira Mario asked whether it was possible, in a context of pluralism, to have a unanimous editorial line on the media with regard to conflict. “Perhaps not about the conflict in itself”, he continued, answering his own question, “but certainly about what would be consensually desirable for the good of all”.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
Mozambican media threatened by more than just political interference
Rogerio Sitoe, one of the country’s most experienced journalists, warned that threats to the editorial independence of the Mozambican media come not only from political interference, but also from economic power and organised crime.
Speaking on Monday 23 November, during a national conference on the role of the media in combating violence and promoting peace, organised by CSCS, Sitoe said that these three factors “while they may not necessarily have the same causes, interests and goals coalesce to destabilise journalistic independence and the mission of the profession”.
He warned against politicians capturing the publicly-owned media and turning them into propaganda vehicles. When the principle of editorial independence is lost, the result is that journalists and editors become demoralised, and many of the consumers – listeners, viewers and readers – are frustrated.
According to Sitoe, this happens “when the centres of editorial decision-making are not inside the newsrooms, but are in outside niches, headed by people who are not journalists and who operate on the basis on non-journalistic paradigms. Under these conditions, politics transgresses the norms of journalism, and only regards the media as effective when it is the vehicle for official prospectives, or those of small groups”.
“The first consequence”, Sitoe added, “is that instead of producing journalism with a small dose of propaganda, propaganda is produced with a small dose of journalism. Secondly, there is a potential chain of conflict between those who, from outside impose ‘orders from above’, the editors who receive them and the journalists who are expected to comply with them”.
The media subjected to such interference “loses credibility and their audiences decline”. This means that the audience for useful government initiatives of public interest (in education, health and agriculture, for instance) also declines.
Breaking with this negative model “is a democratic and professional imperative for Mozambican journalism”, in order to ensure that the public-owned media can do its job as a social and political link, as a driving force in national identity and as a watchdog, keeping an eye on public powers, Sitoe stressed.
In the private media, economic and criminal pressure can be as much of a hindrance as political interference. Sitoe argued that this is becoming a critical problem because of “the weak economic sustainability of the private media and
54
the decline of socio-professional values”.
Companies struggle to influence and capture the media, using advertising as a weapon, and make funds available for media companies to pay wages and other needs. The cost of this may be to cover up the poor performance of companies.
More sinister is the role of organised crime in attempting to impose silence when it comes to criminal and corrupt acts “and to win space in the media to dispute or anticipate court decisions”. Sitoe recalled that the most dramatic example of the influence of organised crime was the assassination in 2000 of Mozambique’s foremost investigative journalist, Carlos Cardoso.
But there were other examples in which the media has become a battleground - “acquitting or condemning, not on the basis of facts, but of value judgements of convenience, even before any court decision”. Sitoe gave no examples – but one obvious case is the long-running character assassination in some of the private media of prominent lawyer Albano Silva who, along with Cardoso, was a thorn in the flesh of the Abdul Satar crime family who stole the equivalent of US$14 million from the country’s largest bank, the BCM, in the mid-1990s, on the eve of its privatisation.
The interference of economic power and organised crime “generates a dual constraint on the media”, said Sitoe. “It makes the owners of media companies dependent, and that dependence may constrain the editorial line of the media concerned. This immoral relationship leads to chaos in the newsrooms, where
the unethical reporters seek and receive money in exchange for editorial favours until they are completely captured by money”.
Media with such reporters end up publishing or suppressing stories simply because they are paid to do so. Editorial independence evaporates and editors and journalists are at the mercy of whoever is paying. “This perverts the profession and corrupts journalism and the journalist”, said Sitoe.
Sitoe concluded that Mozambican journalism, and indeed society as a whole, needs to make “an urgent, honest, frontal and dispassionate reflection”, in a transparent manner, so that “the obstacles to editorial independence and to pluralism of opinion can be minimised”.
Sitoe has a powerful ally in this demand. In his opening speech to the conference, President Filipe Nyusi also stressed the need for pluralism and independence in the media.
“Journalists should listen with objectivity to all the parties involved”, said President Nyusi. “It should give voice to all, without exclusion. If the media behaves like that, with objectivity and professionalism, it becomes a space for the exercise of democracy”.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
Mobile operators threaten to cut off unregistered phone users
On Monday 23 November, Mozambique’s three mobile phone companies, m-Cel, Vodacom and Movitel, threatened to cut off any
55
subscribers who have not registered their SIM cards by Saturday 28 November.
The three companies announced the measure in an unprecedented joint press conference, making it very clear that they fully intend to implement the government decree, which makes registration obligatory.
The government first ordered the registration of SIM cards immediately after the Maputo riots against price increases of 1-2 September 2010. It was argued that the rioters had been mobilised through mobile phone text messages, and so, to avoid the abuse of mobile phones for criminal purposes, all SIM cards were to be registered.
The phone companies pointed out that registering all the cards was an enormous task and successfully lobbied the government to extend the deadline. Then, as the riots faded from memory, registration seemed less urgent and dropped off the agenda.
But the demand for registration was revived in February this year. In one of his first acts as Minister of Transport and Communications, Carlos Mesquita visited the regulatory body, the Mozambique National Communications Institute (INCM). He was annoyed to find that “the level of registration has been very low”, and demanded that the phone companies complete in 30 days what they failed to do in the past four years. This deadline also came and went - but then, on 28 August the government passed a decree giving the phone companies 90 days to complete the registration of their clients.
This decree gave the three companies serious food for thought, since it established heavy fines for companies who fail to register their subscribers. Fines can be as high as MT6 million (approximately US$115,400, at current exchange rates). The 90-day period given by the government expires on Saturday. At the press conference, the spokesperson for the three companies, Herminia Fernandes, made it very clear that this was a genuine deadline.
“Clients who are already active, but are not registered will be gradually blocked until they register their SIM cards”, she said. “New SIM cards will only be activated when they are fully registered”.
Fernandes said that the level of registration has improved, but there are still clients who have not registered. She warned that failure to comply with the law may result in limited access to cell phone services for transgressors.
Massingue Apale, the spokesperson for INCM said that approximately 16 million SIM cards are active, and around two- thirds are now registered.
In February, when Minister Mesquita visited the INCM, the registration level was only at 43%, “but by October we had reached 67%”, said Apale. “We are working at a good pace”.
The most recent of the companies, Movitel, is most advanced, with 70% of its five million clients registered. m-Cel has registered approximately half of its six million clients, while Vodacom is lagging behind, registering only two million of its five million subscribers. It is possible that these figures have risen somewhat since the INCM compiled them. If they have not, the three
56
companies between them must register well over a million clients per day between now and the cut-off date of Saturday.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
Government to spend US$1.9 million on new Guro court
The government is planning to spend more than MT100 million (US$1.9 million) on the construction of new law courts in Guro (Manica Province).
The project will expand the judicial network and bring together justice agencies such as the courts and prosecutor’s offices, the Institute for Legal Assistance and Representation and the Criminal Investigation Police.
The project, which is expected to conclude within the next 11 months, is being built over 10,000 square meters and will offer services to the population of Guro and the surrounding districts of Tambara, Macossa and Bárue.
Source: O País
CRIME
MAP 1: KIDNAPPING INCIDENTS IN CENTRAL MAPUTO 2014 & 2015
57
GRAPH 2: REPORTED KIDNAPPINGS PER YEAR
GRAPH 3: TIME OF KIDNAPPINGS 2014 & 2015
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
2011/2012 2013 2014 2015
14
31 30
20
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
00:01 - 04:00 04:01 - 08:00 08:01 - 12:00 12:01 - 16:00 16:01 - 20:00 20:01 - 00:00
Note: This graph excludes kidnappings in which the time of the kidnapping was not reported
58
GRAPH 4: KIDNAPPINGS PER GENDER / AGE-GROUP 2014 & 2015
*Please note: the data present in the graphs and maps is not 100% accurate owing to the high number of unreported cases and irregularities in the documentation of these events. This graph illustrates the successful kidnapping incidents ONLY and not attempted/aborted/intercepted kidnapping
54 illegal immigrants repatriated
During the course of the week 13 to 20 November, the Mozambican authorities repatriated 54 illegal immigrants.
The illegal non-nationals were caught using false passports and entry visas in the provinces of Maputo and Zambézia.
Source: Folha de Maputo
Criminals rob Civil Identification Directorate
On the night of Monday 23 November, unidentified individuals broke into the office of the Directorate of Civil Identification (DIC) in Nampula and stole the electronic equipment used for issuing identity cards.
Curiously, the DIC facilities are right next to the provincial Frelimo
headquarters and opposite the Provincial Command of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM), which is patrolled 24 hours a day.
According to unconfirmed reports, the criminals also made off with various documents, which were later found dumped nearby.
The means and motives behind the theft are not yet known, but the ongoing investigation suggests that the criminals may have used duplicate keys to enter the premises.
No arrests have yet been made in connection with the robbery.
The police have assured the public that the break-in has not affected the functioning of the institution.
Source: @Verdade
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
<18 19-36 37-54 55-72 >73
Male Female
Note: This graph excludes kidnappings in which either the gender or age of the victim was not reported
59
Kidnapping: 24 November
On Tuesday 24 November, one of the managers of Grupo Hariche Steel Mozambique was abducted as he returned home in the Triunfo neighbourhood, Avenida Marginal (Maputo Province), at lunchtime (approximately 13:00hrs).
The victim, identified as Hariche Arquissandas, is a Mozambican citizen of Indian descent and a member of the Hindu community.
The entire abduction was caught on camera.
The video footage shows the victim returning home in his silver car (possibly a Mercedes-Benz E Class). In the background four men in plainclothes can be seen casually walking/loitering in the street. As the perimeter gate begins to close behind the victim’s vehicle, three of the men run towards the house. One of the abductors (who is wearing a red shirt, dark pants and white shoes, and appears to be carrying a pistol) stops the gate and is followed onto the property by the other two abductors.
The individual in the red shirt (hereafter ‘abductor A’) appears to be in charge of the situation as he is carrying what seems to be the only weapon between the four men. Additionally, abductor A is the first of the three men to start running towards the house and is the first of the abductors to gain access to the property (despite the fact that he was walking in the middle of the other two men). Abductor A appears to take control of the situation, drawing his pistol and ordering abductor B (in a white print shirt and dark pants) to make sure that the gate remains open.
Abductor C (wearing a white shirt and cap, dark pants and white shoes) subsequently stops running and walks into the property as the getaway vehicle approaches.
At this point abductor D (wearing a dark shirt and a cap) runs towards the getaway vehicle. The getaway car is an older model vehicle (possibly an old Ford Granada), dark grey/blue in colour with heavily tinted windows. Newspaper sources describe the car as being “high-powered”.
The getaway car stops next to the perimeter gate and blocks the entrance/exit. Abductor D subsequently opens the back passenger door as abductor B emerges from the property and enters car. Abductor D subsequently enters the property for the first time to assist abductors A and C (who now has the handgun).
Abductors A and D forcefully pull the victim towards the getaway car, while abductor C walks behind pointing the handgun towards the direction of the victim’s house.
Abductor B emerges from the car and assists A and D in pushing the victim into the vehicle, while abductor C fires off the handgun.
Abductor D enters the vehicle, followed by the victim and abductor A. Abductor B attempts to enter the back of the vehicle with A, however, he is forced aside by abductor C. Abductor B subsequently gets into the front passenger seat and the vehicle heads towards the Maputo ring road.
60
The four abductors appear to be black males, plus the getaway driver, which puts the number of abductors at five.
The whole incident, from the moment the victim’s car appears in the driveway to the moment that the getaway vehicle disappears, lasts 54 seconds.
The PRM, via the spokesperson of Maputo, Orlando Mudumane, confirmed that the video was placed in the hands of the authorities, but by 16:00hrs on the day of the abduction, no complaints had been filed.
In October alone, three businessmen were kidnapped in Maputo. The wave of kidnappings that began in 2011, not only in the capital but also in Matola, Beira and Nampula, hardly portrays a good image of the investment environment and, according to one renowned economist, is even contributing to the depreciation of the metical against the US dollar.
The video can be seen at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhU1CEJPQ9E&sns=tw
Source: Folha de Maputo/@Verdade
Prominent businessman under investigation
The PRM have confirmed that prominent businessman Silvestre Bila is under investigation after “strong evidence of illicit activity” was uncovered.
Approximately three weeks ago, one of Bila’s houses in the centre of the city was visited by staff from the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption (GCCC), accompanied by police
officers. During his regular press briefing on Tuesday 24 November, the spokesperson for the General Command of the Mozambican police, Inácio Dina, confirmed that Bila’s house had been searched.
Although reluctant to go into detail, Dina said that the search was the result of a thorough investigation, and had been authorised after evidence of criminal activity had come to light.
“When the police undertake this sort of operation, it’s because there’s strong evidence”, he added. “We have information on illicit activity”.
Dina declined to reveal what had been found in the search. However, Mediafax says it knows from other sources that the police found suitcases full of banknotes in various currencies (US dollars, South African rands and Mozambican meticais).
The GCCC wants to know where this money came from.
Mediafax adds that the case against Bila includes charges of tax evasion and the illegal export of capital.
Bila has publicly boasted of his membership of the ruling Frelimo Party, and helped raise funds for the Frelimo campaign for the 2014 general elections.
In a recent interview with Idolo magazine, he declared that: “If I had more money, I could inject it so that the party would be even stronger, for the good of all Mozambicans”. But he rejected claims that his influence on Frelimo was such that he controlled the State, and used his power to win
61
tenders to supply government departments with goods and services.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
Major corruption uncovered in army command
Three members of the FADM have been detained in connection with a massive corruption scheme in which MT33 million (approximately US$623,000, at current exchange rates) was siphoned out of state coffers.
The three detained officers (two men and a woman), who have not yet been named, worked in the financial department of the Command of the Army. Five civilians, who are relatives and friends of the three officers, have also been detained on the orders of the GCCC, because the stolen money was drained into their bank accounts.
The arrests follow a year-long investigation, after anomalies in the financial records were detected. When the evidence was collected, the three were notified to appear before the GCCC.
At this point, some officers from the Army Command and the FADM General Staff tried to hinder the GCCC investigation, even claiming that they did not know the three suspects. But when they discovered that they were liable to be arrested for obstruction of justice, they dropped their non-cooperation and told the three officers to obey the GCCC summons. Once on the GCCC premises, they were placed under arrest.
The mechanism of the theft was simple. Money was transferred to the accounts of relatives and friends posing as staff of the Command of the Army. A farmer in Moamba district, 60 kilometres north of Maputo, received large deposits in her account, sometimes for over MT100,000. She told the investigators that she is the mother of one of the detained officers.
The three thieves had complete control over the army wage sheets and included whatever names they liked. The GCCC said that this fraud has been made easier because the General Staff, including the Command of the Army, is still using the old, manual wages system, and has not switched over to the computerised payments system, known as e-SISTAFE. The manual system is much more vulnerable to corruption than e-SISTAFE.
The GCCC has by no means finished its investigations into military wages. It fears that among the fraudulent schemes used was to channel money to ghosts (soldiers who have died). The GCCC has a further four suspects in its sights, who have not yet been detained because three are working outside Maputo and one is studying abroad.
Asked to comment, the Defence Ministry press attaché, Benjamin Chuabalo, said that: “the Ministry has no comment, and is simply co-operating so that the investigations run smoothly. It is the investigating body (the GCCC) that can comment. This is a matter that has been under investigation for more than five years” (which contradicts the Noticias claim that the investigation took a year).
The spokesperson for the GCCC, Eduardo Sumana, told reporters that
62
this year “many billions of meticais” have been stolen by public officials.
“The recent assaults on the public treasury have been worrying”, he said. “We find out about this through our audits and other mechanisms. The way to stop this is to demonstrate our commitment to attacking these situations vigorously. We call on people to be vigilant and to denounce these phenomena”.
The GCCC noted that other military institutions, including the Defence Ministry itself, have failed to switch to e-SISTAFE and are still using the old, and highly vulnerable manual payment systems. The Attorney-General’s Office intends to urge that this situation be immediately corrected and that the military payments be computerised.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
For suspects in the murder of Bo Hu released on bail
On the morning of Wednesday 6 August, the body of US businessman, Bo Hu, was discovered in a hotel room in Beira’s Hotel Savoy (Sofala Province).
Hu, a Chinese born American entrepreneur and partner in the firm Biworld International Limited, was found in room 201. His hands and feet were bound with rope and he had been gagged with tape. The floor was reportedly covered in blood and the victim’s body displayed signs of torture.
Following in-depth investigations, four individuals were arrested on 19 November in connection with Hu’s
murder. However, all four suspects were released on bail during the course of this week.
The four suspects, identified as Hui Sun (Hu’s ex-wife); Tinir Gao; Yongjie Xinge; and Evaristo “Ito”, were released on bail of MT300,100 each (amounting to a total of MT1,200,400).
According to information, both Gao and Ito were employed by Hu at the time of his death, with the latter employed as Hu’s driver.
Judge Sabino refused to divulge any information on the case. However, unconfirmed information suggests that the case will be overseen by the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office.
A source close to the victim’s family revealed that the arrest warrant for the four suspects was welcomed with great satisfaction amongst family members in America and China. However, the subsequent release of the suspects on bail has left Hu’s relatives feeling very disappointed.
“MT300,100 is a very low amount. The family is fully committed to ensuring that those responsible for this terrible crime are brought to justice”, said the source.
Information suggests that the primary motive behind Hu’s murder was financial disputes between the victim and his ex-wife. The source revealed that: “Mounting evidence suggests that Hu’s ex-wife, Hui Sun; their daughter, Wenqian Hu; and her husband, Xiangle Mo, had strong motives to kill Hu”.
The most significant piece of evidence against Hui Sun points to the fact that Hu recently discovered that his ex-wife
63
was actively transferring BiWorld assets to a separate company, New Speed, founded without Hu’s approval.
Another point of discord between the former couple involved a falsified document drawn up by Hui Sun, which transferred 10% of BiWorld to her son-in-law, Mo.
It has been suggested that Hu discovered his ex-wife’s illegal activities shortly before he was murdered.
Evidence suggests that Hu’s daughter and son-in-law had been issuing Hu with death threats dating as far back as July this year. The information suggests that Wenqian and Mo had repeatedly threatened to shoot Hu, despite him being a 90% shareholder of BiWorld.
According to the victim’s family, on 13 July Hu expressed his concerns and suspicions, revealing that he feared an imminent attack on his life, pointing to Mo and his ‘gang’ as the possible conspirators. Hu subsequently informed his family that he planned to switch hotels.
On 6 August Hu’s co-worker, Tiago Alexandre, went to Hu’s hotel room at approximately 08:00hrs to retrieve a set of keys. On discovering that Hu was not in his hotel room, Alexandre proceeded to the front desk where he was informed that Hu was in room 201.
There was no answer from room 201, and Alexandre subsequently pried the door open and discovered Hu’s body.
According to information, shortly before Hu’s body was discovered, Gao was seen transporting an unknown number of individuals in a BiWorld vehicle,
approximately 80 kilometres west of Beira, towards the Zimbabwean border (Machipanda).
On 7 August, Hu’s brother, Toa, met with Wenqian in an apartment in Beijing. Wenqian, who was waiting for a visa to return to Mozambique, was confronted by her uncle, at which point she allegedly confessed to her involvement in the murder of her father.
It has been suggested that Wenqian and Mo also face charges in connection with the murder.
The police have yet to comment on the case.
Source: @Verdade/Diario do Moçambique
62-year-old man arrested for raping two sisters in Maputo
A 62-year-old man was recently arrested in Maputo and charged with repeatedly raping a nine-year-old neighbour in the suburban district of Polana Canico.
The perpetrator, who allegedly gave his victim money in exchange for her silence, has denied the claim, despite evidence to the contrary. That being said, the detainee has admitted to engaging in sexual relations with the victim’s older sister, who he believed to be 20-years-old (in actual fact she is only 17).
The victim told the police that she has lost count of how many times the perpetrator raped her.
Source: @Verdade
64
Government approves albino protection plan
The Amor à Vida association (“Love for Life”) has welcomed the government’s adoption of a plan to protect albinos and to combat the wave of kidnappings and killings of people with albinism. 58 cases relating to this phenomenon have been reported since February this year.
“We are happy to hear that the government is doing something for us and we are hopeful that we will be able to achieve our goal and demonstrate that we are all the same”, said Ihidina Mussagy, president of the association.
Pedro Tivane, an albino interviewed by DW Africa, also believes that the government’s plan will help to combat discrimination against albinos. “We’re grateful for this law, because we albinos live in constant fear of this albino hunting”.
The overall objective of the action plan is to protect and assist albinos and prevent criminal acts against them. The plan also makes provisions for a study on the deeper causes of the phenomenon.
“Actions include awareness-raising measures, civic education and anthropological studies, but also measures to speed up the processes
involving this phenomenon”, said Cabinet spokesperson and Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, Ana Comoana.
Amor à Vida was involved in the preparation of the government’s action plan, and took the opportunity to present other concerns to the government.
“We need sunscreen. The fact that there is none in public pharmacies and that when there is it is unaffordable worries us”, says Mussagy. They also ask that “special glasses counters” be set up.
The Ministry of Education proposes that students should discuss equality and albinism from Grade three, “so that from an early age they may realise that albinism is quite normal”.
For years Mozambican albinos have been the target of kidnappings and killings by individuals who believe that parts of their bodies, such as eyes, hair and genital organs, are lucky charms when used in traditional medicine.
Authorities have opened 55 criminal cases against individuals charged with involvement in kidnapping, murder and the desecration of albino graves since February this year.
Source: Deutsche Welle
65
WILDLIFE & ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
SADC, east Africa and Mozambique fight illegal timber trade
The recent signing of the Zanzibar Declaration on Illegal Logging by forest protection agencies in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique and Madagascar is a hopeful sign of the commitment by eastern and southern African countries to curb the alarming growth in illegal timber trade which is costing the countries billions of dollars.
The deal, which was struck at a global gathering on forests in South Africa in recent weeks, aims to improve communication between customs authorities and collaboration among forest officials from the east and southeast African nations.
“The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) welcomes the Zanzibar Declaration on Illegal Trade in Timber and Other Forest Products, the first such agreement of its kind in the region”, said Geofrey Mwanjela, head of the WWF Coastal East Africa Initiative terrestrial programme.
“The declaration comes at a crucial time. Illegal trade in timber is expanding at an alarming rate and this new commitment by governments will greatly amplify efforts to reduce such trade at the regional level”.
The declaration was accepted and announced at the XIV World Forestry Congress, one of the largest gatherings of world forestry leaders.
The event was facilitated by WWF, TRAFFIC, and the SADC.
“The Zanzibar Declaration signals a firm commitment by the countries concerned to curtail the illegal and unsustainable timber trade that is benefitting criminals and depleting the natural resources of the region”, said Julie Thomson, TRAFFIC’s East Africa programme co-ordinator.
TRAFFIC is a joint programme by the WWF and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) to monitor wildlife trade and ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conservation.
For several years forest experts had bemoaned about inadequate collaboration among national forest agencies and customs agencies across the region.
Lack of collaboration has led to unfettered growth in illegal logging that has seen violent armed groups and other mafia-type business thriving and profiteering from this trade.
In 2014, the United Nations Environment Programme reported that in east, central and West Africa, criminal groups are thought to make more money from selling illegal wood products – up to US$9 billion annually – than through street-level drug-dealing.
Forest experts say there is growing intra-regional and inter-regional illegal trade of timber and other forest products flowing across Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, as well as further towards the Western and Central Africa, termed Africa’s ‘Green Heart’.
66
Kenya loses roughly US$10 million per year from illegal cross-border trade between Tanzania and Kenya, according to a 2012 study by the Tanzania Natural Resource Forum and East African Wild Life Society.
Tanzania loses around US$8.33 million annually from such trade, according to a similar government report.
“If properly managed, forests provide jobs for workers and homes for wildlife. They also act as a filter pulling planet-warming carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, so protecting them is crucial for the broader environment”, said Juma Mgoo, head of Tanzania’s Forest Service.
“Across the region, the illegal timber trade is flourishing at an alarming pace. Criminal groups are benefiting from the environmental destruction and forests continue to dwindle at unprecedented rates in our region.
“If we continue at the rate which we are going there will be nothing left for our children and their children to enjoy”.
In a presentation at the congress, WWF-Zimbabwe country director, Dr Enos Shumba said that it was important for African countries to explore and promote the African perspective for building resilience of different forest ecosystems to withstand economic, environmental and social shocks through forest management.
He highlighted the opportunities for enhancing Miombo woodland ecosystem resilience through participatory forest management, referring to environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically
viable management of forests for the benefit of present and future generations.
He also stressed the need to enhance the participation of local communities and stakeholders and provision of adequate economic incentives to save forests.
“The existence of enabling governance and institutional frameworks and their enforcement at various levels, as well as functional cross sector co-ordination and respect for integrated land use planning and its implementation is critical to build resilience and save our forests”, Dr Shumba said.
WWF’s Living Forests Report projects potential forest loss in the East Africa region of up to 12 million hectares between 2010 and 2030.
WWF’s remote sensing analysis has indicated that forest losses from 2000 to 2012 were concentrated in Mozambique (2.2 million hectares), Tanzania (two million hectares) and Zambia (1.3 million hectares).
Globally, between 50 to 90% of wood is harvested or traded illegally, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and it’s estimated to cost between US$30 billion and US$100 billion annually.
The Zanzibar Declaration was ratified following protracted debates and negotiations among key stakeholders in the forest sector, national forest agencies as well as regional and international partners and civil society organizations, including WWF.
67
Environment Africa Zimbabwe country director, Barney Mawire, told The Southern Times that, although illegal timber poaching within the SADC region is not as prevalent as in central and west Africa, the region needs to strategize and work together to fight illegal timber trade.
“The Zanzibar Declaration is quite noble and this should be tied in to trade bodies such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)”, he said.
“Timber poaching is growing and we need to join hands and fight together. This will go a long way towards fighting illegal timber trade”.
Mawire said it was important to have forest experts at the ports of entry to monitor the illegal movement and trade in timber products.
“Forest experts understand the issues better and are better placed in dealing with timber poaching which is becoming increasingly sophisticated”, he said. “We need them at our borders and we need to work with our neighbours to develop new methods to curb the illegal timber trade”.
Zimbabwe is losing approximately 330,000 hectares of natural forests and woodlands per year due to the over-reliance on biomass to meet the country’s energy needs.
More than 70% of the population depends on biomass for energy needs and over the decades this has depleted the country’s forest cover.
Forest experts say Zimbabwe now has around 15.6 million hectares remaining.
They say logging syndicates work with corrupt police and officials to exploit legislative loopholes that allow them to pass off illicitly obtained fuelwood as legitimate.
Zimbabwe passed a law in 2012 restricting the use, trade and movement of firewood, but with fines that rarely exceed US$20 the legislation is proving a poor deterrent, experts said.
Power cuts are making it difficult to keep deforestation under control and forestry experts say it is becoming more difficult to enforce legislation as the situation becomes more about survival.
Deforestation has an adverse impact on the environment and experts warn that the depletion of the country’s forests could worsen water availability.
“Models show that deforestation could result in a decline in precipitation of more than 5% across Zimbabwe by 2050”, Terrence Mushore, a lecturer at the Bindura University of Science Education, said recently.
Despite the deforestation woes, Mawire said Zimbabwe had done well in saving its forests.
“Zimbabwe has done well in terms of preserving its forests and fighting illegal timber trade”, he said.
“Timber poaching for trade is not as serious as in east, central or west Africa but as a country we need to continuously improve our strategies for curbing illegal timber trade”.
Poor implementation and weak enforcement still remains a major barrier in the fight against illegal trade in timber.
68
In the absence of political will, effective implementation and enforcement, the damage illegal loggers have done will continue unabated, costing Africa billions.
The future of children, will be under threat from unsustainable timber logging activities.
Without enforcement, the Zanzibar Declaration, although an important step in the fight against timber poaching, will simply add time to the clock, but without doing anything to change Africa’s illegal timber trade endgame.
Source: Southern African News
Government announces total and immediate ban on timber exports
On Wednesday 25 November, the Minister of Land, Environment and Rural Development, Celso Correia, announced a series of measures to halt the deforestation that is currently plaguing the country.
Speaking at a Maputo press conference, Minister Correia said that the country is losing 219,000 hectares of forest every year, largely due to the conversion of forests into agricultural land, and to the unsustainable production of woodfuels - firewood and charcoal.
The current deforestation rate is 0.58% a year, which the government wants to reduce initially to 0.2% a year.
Also contributing to the degradation of native forests is excessive logging, way above the theoretical limits imposed on licensed loggers. In 2012, for example, the amount of logs cut was estimated at 727,000 cubic metres.
Minister Correia announced that the government is suspending for the next two years all new logging licences – not just the simple licences, but even the forestry concession licences, the holders of which are obliged to process the timber they cut.
This follows Tuesday’s announcement by government spokesperson and Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, Ana Comoana.
According to Deputy Minister Comoana, the purpose of the suspension is to allow the reorganisation of the forestry sector.
She described the sector as currently characterised “by the proliferation of operators holding simple logging licences for large areas”.
The measure is intended to safeguard the country’s forests, which have come under intense pressure from logging, to such an extent that the survival of some species is threatened.
Under Mozambican legislation, there are two forms of forestry exploitation. One is the “simple licence”, under which the operators just cut down the trees, and are not obliged to process any of the wood. The second is the “forestry concession contract”, which (in theory), involves larger areas, and under which the companies concerned are obliged to process timber inside Mozambique.
Minister Correia added that all logging of ironwood (“Pau-ferro”) is suspended for five years, since this species has been under enormous pressure.
The government will also revise the legislation on timber exports so as to
69
ban the export of logs of any kind from any species of tree. All exported timber must first be processed in Mozambique; therefore only finished or semi-finished products can be exported and not the unprocessed logs.
“If we don’t take effective action, we run the risk of losing our forestry potential, with serious losses to the local communities, to the environment and to our economy”, said Minister Correia, adding that the deforestation would worsen Mozambique’s vulnerability to climate change.
“Just as we are at war with poachers, so we are now going to war with illegal loggers”, declared the minister. “The conditions exist for us to exploit forestry resources in a sustainable fashion”.
The minister was optimistic about the possibilities of success, claiming that in recent months poaching has been reduced by 50%. He saw no reason why similar success could not be achieved in the fight against illegal logging.
Also on Tuesday, Deputy Minister Comoana announced that the Council of Ministers also approved a bill on amendments to the law on Value Added Tax (VAT), which must now go before the National Assembly. The deputy minister said that the bill will extend the VAT exemption enjoyed by farmers, and will also exempt public passenger transport services from VAT. The VAT exemptions for the sugar and vegetable oil and soap industries, which were originally introduced as a temporary measure, will now be extended to the end of 2019.
Source: O País/Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique/Lusa
Minister Edna Molewa is confident that the war on rhino poaching will be won
The South African Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, recently told a briefing that the sectoral approach now in operation against rhino poachers was bearing fruit.
She pointed to the recent arrest of 12 suspects, including three police officers, as an indication of what has been achieved since rhino poaching was declared a national priority crime in 2014.
This led to the creation of a multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral approach focussed on collaboration and working through the country’s national security structure.
“Some of these structures operate horizontally and vertically and involve SA Police Service structures, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), the intelligence community, SANParks rangers, Environmental Management Inspectors (EMI’s), Border and Customs officials, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and private rhino owners.
“We retain the utmost confidence that this approach is successful as we continue to register a number of successes in our fight against poaching, especially with regard to the dismantling and disruption of criminal syndicates”, she said, but did not go as far as giving any updated rhino kill statistics.
In August she said that 749 rhinos had been killed in South Africa, with the Kruger National Park (the epicentre of poaching activities) losing 544. Last
70
year 1,213 rhinos were killed in South Africa, the highest since poaching started to increase about 10 years ago.
Minister Molewa said that the MoU entered into with Mozambique on conservation and environmental matters affecting both countries was “well underway”.
It includes the implementation of anti-poaching strategies as far as resettling villages and residents in Mozambique and the establishment of a special police unit for natural resources and environmental protection.
“South Africa will hand over much-needed anti-poaching equipment to Mozambique including a light aircraft to support anti-poaching operations”.
In a statement issued on Thursday 26 November, the minister said that she “noted” the judgement handed down in the North Gauteng High Court which sets aside the moratorium on the domestic trade in rhino horn in South Africa, and will be appealing it. Two South African game breeders had previously launched the action.
The Ministry explained that the decision of the court should not be construed to mean that the domestic trade in rhino horn may take place in an “unregulated fashion”. “In the absence of the
moratorium, it must be emphasised that all trade in rhino horn will be subjected to the issuing of the relevant permits in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No 10 of 2004).
“In terms of NEM:BA a permit is required to trade in rhino horns and any derivatives or products of horn and the judgment does not mean that persons are allowed to trade – including selling, donating, or in any way acquiring or disposing of rhino horn – without a permit issued by the relevant provincial conservation department”.
The Ministry added that the judgment also does not relate to the international trade in rhino horn for commercial purposes.
“Commercial international trade in rhino horn is still prohibited in terms of the provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)”.
Once the department has filed its application for leave to appeal, the order of the court will be suspended pending the finalisation of the application and the appeal, should the application for leave to appeal be successful.
Source: Defence Web
NOTICE
In order to support the campaign to save the Rhino please support the FOCUS-AFRICA
Foundation by liking the FOCUS-AFRICA Foundation Facebook Page at: Focus-Africa
Foundation as well the FOCUS-AFRICA Foundation Website at www.focus-africa.org
The Focus-Africa Foundation is solely dedicated to the support of the Joaquim Chissano
Foundation Mozambique Wildlife Preservation Initiative and the re-introduction of the rhino to
Mozambique (extinct in this country since 2013)
71
OTHER
3,000 families in Chigubo survive on one meal per day
At least 15,000 people remain at risk of starvation due to prolonged drought in Mozambique.
On Thursday 19 November, reports suggested that Chigubo district (Gaza Province) is the worst affected by the situation.
According to O País, some 3,000 families in Chigubo are surviving on one meal per day as the area has not received any rains since December last year.
The district authorities reported in September that some 13,000 people were affected by hunger due to the prolonged drought.
An earlier survey by the National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC) indicated that the drought in southern Mozambique was affecting 135,000 people, resulting in acute food insecurity.
“A survey we conducted found that the situation is most critical in Gaza and Inhambane provinces, with 138,000 people affected”, said INGC spokesman Rita Almeida.
Source: Africa Review
FAO expects to triple agricultural production in 11 districts
The FAO expects to triple agricultural production in 11 districts in Mozambique and uplift 19,600 farmers from a cycle of
poverty and food insecurity by supplying agricultural inputs and quality seeds.
The FAO has sold 300 tons of subsidised seeds to farmers in Manica, Sofala, Zambézia and Nampula provinces, in an initiative funded by the European Union.
Speaking to reporters, Walter Oliveira, FAO co-ordinator in Mozambique for reducing hunger in line with the MDG, said that low production in the country is mainly due to lack of quality seeds coupled with poor agricultural education.
“With the new system, we forecast a tripling of yield per hectare in 11 districts”, said Oliveira during the official launch of the ‘e-voucher’ – the card that grants access to seeds.
The launch coincided with the start of the rains which signal the start of the rain-fed agriculture season practised by nearly 90% of farmers in Mozambique.
“If the initiative is taken up by all the districts in the country, as we expect, productivity increase will be very large”, said Oliveira.
In turn, Marcelo Chaquisse, deputy national director of the Agricultural Department in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, said that the seed arrived late when the government was responsible for its direct distribution, and that the e-vouchers were a sustainable mechanism for the provision of seed and other inputs.
Inspired by the success of the ‘Bolsa Familia’ social protection programme in Brazil, the e-voucher will channel
72
support from the government, FAO and other partner organisations’ to the various beneficiaries.
The electronic card and the operating system, developed by a Japanese firm, are being managed in Mozambique by Japanese technicians from the Agribusiness Company for the Development of Mozambique.
Source: Lusa
Cholera lethality rate remains very low
On Wednesday 25 November, the Minister of Health, Nazira Abdula, informed the National Assembly that the lethality rate from cholera in Mozambique is extremely low, at only 0.6%.
The minister was responding to a question put forward by the Renamo parliamentary group, which claimed that her Ministry “does not act promptly to save human lives at risk from cholera”.
Minister Abdula replied that currently there are cholera outbreaks in three of the 11 provinces – Nampula, Niassa and Zambézia. The cumulative number of cases in all three provinces is 874, of whom five have died, giving a lethality rate slightly less than 0.6% – and considerably lower than the 1% regarded as acceptable by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Transmission of cholera does not depend on a single factor”, said the minister, “since it is intimately linked to inadequate management of the environment, the condition of drinking water and bad habits of individual and collective hygiene”.
One major problem that health workers face is disinformation about cholera. Rumours have been spread that, far from curing cholera, health workers are spreading the disease. This has led to physical attacks on health staff and community leaders, and to the destruction of equipment in cholera treatment units.
Minister Abdula believes that this year “there has been a decline in the disinformation about cholera, due to health education activities which have involved religious, traditional and community leaders, community health agents, members of the community and the police”.
She assured the deputies that the government “has placed in advance the materials and medicines needed to treat cases of cholera in all districts”.
As for malaria, which remains the main childhood killer, Minister Abdula said that her Ministry has prioritised “timely diagnosis and immediate treatment”. There has been “a reduction in the time that patients with severe malaria spend in hospital due to the use of drugs that provide a rapid cure, therefore reducing the costs of hospitalisation, both for the government and for households”.
A spraying campaign is underway to protect the public against the mosquitoes that transmit the malaria parasite. The campaign began on 1 September and by 13 November 354,272 homes had been sprayed, out of a target of 1.18 million. Minister Abdula said that this campaign had protected approximately 1.5 million people. If the campaign target is reached, the number of people protected will rise to 5.3 million.
73
Mass distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets has continued this year. Minister Abdula said that 1.97 million nets have been distributed in communities and almost 828,000 have been given to pregnant women in health units.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
President Nyusi visits Manhica health centre
On Wednesday 25 November, President Filipe Nyusi declared, in the district of Manhica (Maputo Province), that health care is one of his government’s top priorities.
Visiting the Manhica Health Research Centre (CISM), President Nyusi stressed that: “Health is our priority. We have been investing a lot of time in talking about peace, but the greatest peace is life. Nobody can talk about peace when life does not exist’.
“The best way of promoting peace is by helping our neighbours”, said President Nyusi, which is precisely what the CISM was doing through its research, aimed at reducing the high levels of mortality in the country.
“We must increase the number of scientific research centres in Mozambique”, he added, “not only in the health sector, but in all fields of development, in order to deal with the major ills that beset Mozambicans, such as hunger, drought and disease”.
The CISM General Director, Eusebio Macete, said one of the current key research areas concerns the effectiveness of the anti-retroviral drugs
that prolong the lives of HIV-positive people, because about 24% of patients taking these drugs do not improve and end up developing AIDS, and dying of an AIDS-related illness.
But the main object of study is malaria, and CISM has been one of the health centres involved in developing a vaccine against malaria, known as Mosquirix TM (with the scientific name RTS,S/AS01).
CISM was set up in 1996, with the purpose of conducting biomedical research in priority areas. It has developed as part of a programme of bilateral co-operation between the Mozambican and Spanish governments, and with the support of Barcelona University Hospital.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
New vaccine against polio introduced
The Health Ministry intends to introduce a new vaccine against poliomyelitis, which was officially launched on Friday 27 November, in Manhica district, 89 kilometres north of Maputo.
This is the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), which contains inactivated strains of all three poliovirus types. Since it is not a live vaccine, it carries no risk of vaccine-associated polio paralysis.
This vaccine is given by injection, and it replaces the oral polio vaccine, which is a live vaccine and therefore carries the real, but extremely unlikely possibility of causing paralysis. The IPV will be given to all children aged four months.
The Deputy National Director of Public Health, Quinhas Fernandes, told a
74
Maputo press conference on Tuesday 24 November, that the vaccination programme is intended to reduce the risk of any reappearance of either the wild or the vaccine-derived types of poliovirus.
Like the rest of Africa, and indeed most of the world, Mozambique is currently free of polio. Indeed the only countries where polio remains endemic are Pakistan and Afghanistan. But the Ministry of Health is taking no chances, and holds regular polio vaccination campaigns to maintain a high level of immunity among the population, making it difficult for the disease to be re-introduced.
“From the point of view of vaccine quality, this is better than the earlier one”, Fernandes said. “Within the polio eradication programme, it allows countries to speed things up”.
The estimated cost per dose of this vaccine is US$2.05. To acquire the vaccine, the Health Ministry is spending MT275.5 million (approximately US$5.3 million, at current exchange rates).
The Ministry also introduced a second dose of anti-measles vaccine in Manhica. This too is an injectable vaccine, to be given to all children aged 18 months, in order to strengthen the first dose, which they should have received at the age of nine months.
The introduction of the second dose is part of the global strategic plan to eliminate measles and rubella between 2012 and 2020. According to Fernandes, Mozambique has a national vaccination coverage higher than 80%, which makes it eligible for the second routine dose of the measles vaccine.
The estimated cost of this vaccine is US$0.38 a dose. Over the next four years, the Health Ministry plans to invest around MT131.4 million in acquiring the necessary stocks of the vaccine.
Fernandes also announced that to date 157,191 children aged between two and four months have received the first dose of the vaccine against rotavirus, which was added to Mozambique’s routine vaccination programme this year.
This is only 48% of the target figure of 334,453 children to be vaccinated by the end of the year. Nonetheless Fernandes said the pace of the vaccination was “satisfactory”.
“We are comfortable with the progression of the work being done”, he said. “Given the acceptance within our communities, everything indicates that we shall attain the target we set for this year and we will be better able to adjust the targets for 2016”.
The vaccine is available in all the country’s health units, Fernandes said, and all children in the target age group have access to it through fixed posts or mobile brigades. Vaccination against rotavirus began in September.
Rotavirus is the most common form of severe diarrhoea among infants and young children. It infects and damages the cells that line the small intestine and causes gastroenteritis. If there is widespread vaccination against rotavirus, this could reduce severe gastroenteritis among children by around 90%.
This oral vaccine should be administered in two doses, one when the child is up to four months old, and
75
the second up to the seventh month of life. No child above seven months of age should be given the vaccine, said Fernandes.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
Two killed in Maputo mosque collapse
On Thursday 26 November, the Masjid Babi Salam mosque in Maputo partially collapsed, leaving two dead and an unknown number wounded, some critically. The collapse occurred in the evening when numerous individuals were gathered inside for prayers, and strong gusts of wind hit the city.
The fact that it was raining in Maputo suggests that storm water infiltration may have contributed to the incident, a scenario which the Maputo accident investigators are likely to look into.
Source: A Bola
FIFA suspends support for Mozambican football
On Thursday 19 November, the ruling body of international football, FIFA, suspended all support for the Mozambican Football Federation (FMF) due to its failure to justify the use of FIFA funds in the past.
The senior manager of FIFA’s Africa Development Programme, Zelkiflir Ngoufana, announced the freeze on funding in Maputo.He told reporters that FIFA demands accounts from all its affiliates, which should be presented by
31 March each year. These reports should account, not only for the money which FIFA allocates to the national bodies, but also the funds they raise themselves. But the FMF is over seven months late in delivering its report.
“Mozambique has not yet delivered the documents justifying the use of the funds, and so we are suspending our financing”, said Ngoufana.
“Money from FIFA for the FMF exists, but it just requires clarification of last year’s accounts”. Every year FIFA pumps US$250,000 into the FMF. But there is a further US$800,000 unaccounted for. Therefore, the FMF needs to provide documentation explaining how it spent over US$1 million.
This financial headache is the legacy of Feizal Sidat, who was replaced as chairperson of the FMF earlier this year by Alberto Simango Junior. Simango told reporters that an internal audit is under way looking into the state of the FMF finances.
Sidat had been at the head of the FMF for two five-year terms of office, and when he left, he claimed that the accounts were all in order.Instead, there appears to be a gaping hole, and until the FMF can explain what happened to last year’s funds, there will be no more money from FIFA. This is potentially a devastating blow, since FIFA is the main source of finance for the FMF.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Moçambique
END